CNA has also reported<\/a> that Pell and Becciu clashed repeatedly over financial affairs, including the use of Swiss banks to provide financing for different investments allegedly obscured from Vatican balance sheets, including the controversial purchase of a London building.<\/p>\n Since at least 2018, Vatican criminal investigators have been reviewing a web of investments and transactions at the Secretariat of State involving a network of businessmen and curial officials linked to investments related to the London property deal.<\/p>\n So far, one of brokers of the deal has been arrested, and several Vatican officials have had their offices and homes raided.<\/p>\n On Sept. 24, Becciu was asked by Pope Francis<\/a> to resign from his Vatican job and from the rights of cardinals, and has denied subsequent media reports<\/a> that he used Church funds to benefit family members, or that he had attempted to influence the outcome of a sex abuse trial against Cardinal Pell in Australia, which resulted in Pell taking a leave of absence from his curial post in 2017.<\/p>\n Speaking to AP on Monday, Pell said of the allegations against Becciu that \u201cI hope for the sake of the Church, there\u2019s nothing in it.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIn fact \u2014 I say that quite sincerely \u2014 because some Australian people, my own family, said to me: \u2019Well, if the Mafia is going after you or somebody else is going after you, that\u2019s one thing. It\u2019s a little bit worse if it comes from within the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think we will find out, whether there is or there isn\u2019t,\u201d said Pell. \u201cCertainly, the party\u2019s not over.\u201d<\/p>\n An October AP report said the allegations against Becciu \u201cappeared more an effort to discredit Becciu and distract attention from the shortcomings of the Vatican prosecutors' primary investigation into a London real estate venture.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, police found hundreds of thousands of euros in cash hidden in two homes of Fabrizio Tirabassi, a lay official at the Secretariat of State until his suspension, together with four other employees, last year. CNA has previously reported<\/a> his links to the London deal, including to the broker arrested for allegedly extorting the Vatican.<\/p>\n On Monday, Pell told AP that the rolling series of financial scandals appeared to show criminal behavior, but that a full Vatican trial could eventually establish the whole truth. \u201cIt just might be staggering incompetence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be better for the church if these things hadn\u2019t happened, if I wasn\u2019t vindicated in this way,\u201d said Pell. \u201cBut given that they have happened, it\u2019s quite clear\u201d that his original reforming agenda was necessary.<\/p>\n Pell said his efforts had been \u201csadly vindicated by revelations and developments.\u201d<\/p>\n Tags: Catholic News<\/a>, Vatican Finances<\/a>, Cardinal George Pell<\/a> <\/p>\n Subscribe to our daily CNA newsletter <\/p>\n At Catholic News Agency, our team is committed to reporting the truth with courage, integrity, and fidelity to our faith. We provide news about the Church and the world, as seen through the teachings of the Catholic Church. When you subscribe to the CNA UPDATE, we'll send you a daily email with links to the news you need.<\/p>\n Cardinal George Pell arrived in Rome Wednesday as financial scandals continue to cast a shadow…<\/p>\n The Vatican said Wednesday it acknowledges the decision by the Court of Appeals in Victoria to…<\/p>\n The Vatican raid conducted on the chief prosecutor of the Church\u2019s Apostolic Signatura sheds…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" .- Cardinal George Pell has spoken of his surprise at the apparent extent of \u201ccriminality\u201d involved in recent Vatican financial scandals.You may also like \u00bb<\/h2>\n
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<\/a> <\/p>\nCardinal Pell arrives in Rome as financial scandal casts shadow over Vatican<\/a><\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Cardinal_George_Pell_prefect_of_the_Secretariat_for_the_Economy_speaks_with_CNA_at_the_Vatican_March_17_2016_Credit_Alexey_Gotovskiy_CNA.jpg?w=350\"\/)
<\/a> <\/p>\nVatican \u2018acknowledges the court's decision\u2019 to dismiss Cardinal George Pell's appeal<\/a><\/h3>\n
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<\/a> <\/p>\nLondon to Malta via Rome: Following the money in Vatican financial scandals<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n Speaking in an interview with Associated Press Monday, the cardinal, who led the Vatican\u2019s Secretariat for the Economy from 2014-2017, said that he regretted that his efforts to bring tough mechanisms for financial transparency and accountability had been vindicated by the details of recent scandals.
\n Pell told AP that he knew, from the time Pope Francis put him in charge of a key part of his curial reform agenda, that the Vatican finances were \u201ca bit of a mess.\u201d
\n But, the cardinal said, he \u201cnever, never thought it would be as Technicolor as it proved.\u201d
\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know that there was so much criminality involved,\u201d Pell said.
\n Until 2017, Pell led an effort called for by Pope Francis to bring order and accountability to the Vatican\u2019s finances, which have long lacked centralized procedures, controls, or oversight, claiming at one point to have discov..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n