No rest: Pope asks George Pell, 75, to keep counting, The Australian (June 08, 2016)

Australian Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s treasurer, today turns 75, the age when Catholic bishops automatically submit their resignations to the pope. Cardinal Pell, however, has been asked by Pope Francis to continue working until 2019.

After Pope Francis visited the office of the Secretariat for the Economy last month, Cardinal Pell’s office said in a statement he would “be continuing with his current role for the full five-year term”. He was appointed to clean up the Vatican’s corrupt financial system in February 2014.

“The Holy Father said he fully supported their work and re-emphasised the ongoing need for transparency in continuing with their reforms,” its statement said. About 4000 Vatican Bank accounts of individuals and organisations not entitled to hold them have been closed and 200 have been referred to authorities.

Cardinal Pell’s secretariat is also engaged in a battle with the powerful Secretariat of State, after Italian Archbishop Angelo Becciu, the number two official in that office, suspended an external audit of Vatican finances by international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was trying to improve the transparency of Vatican finances to international anti-money-laundering standards.

The audit, approved by Pope Francis, could be embarrassing for the Secretariat of State, which ran Vatican finances during a period of corruption and scandals. Former prefect Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone reportedly transferred €15 million from the Vatican Bank to a private film company and used $300,000 from a fund for sick children to redecorate his lavish apartment. “It is interesting to note so-called ‘concerns’ about the PwC audit were only raised when auditors began asking for certain financial information, and were finding it difficult to get answers,’’ the statement said.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, also turned 75 last month, prompting speculation about his replacement. Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge, 67, who was born in Melbourne, is the frontrunner to be the next president of the conference and could return to his home city. Two former auxiliaries in Melbourne, Archbishops Timothy Costelloe of Perth and Christopher Prowse of Canberra are thought to be in the running, as is Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart. Some believe lawyer Father Frank Brennan, a Jesuit like the Pope who shares his social justice priorities, could be a dark horse.