From the beginning of his pontificate, when he personally paid for his hotel room to creating the Commission for the Economic Structure of the Holy See, Pope Francis has been mixing up the way the Vatican does money.
Cardinal George Pell says the pope has positively affected the Vatican finances, instilling a revival of honesty and transparency in all its dealings, which the cardinal has since been implementing.
CARD. GEORGE PELL
Prefect, Secretariat for the Economy
'We're committed to this principle of transparency, the sharing of information. He [the pope] understands the importance of honesty. He understands the importance of efficiency. He understands that unless we have some money, we can't give people money. He also understands, he recognizes, as I do, that we are losing money every year.â?
The Cardinal said that while the Vatican seems to be losing money, they know where their money is going and are sharing that with the public.
CARD. GEORGE PELL
Prefect, Secretariat for the Economy
'It's going on expenses, Curial expenses. Obviously we've got to give a good percentage over to charity. We've got these nunciatures all over the world, which perform a vital job, so we're just not making quite enough.â?
Despite this, he is confident that the different methodologies that have been put into place make it much more difficult to abuse the system than it was previously.
CARD. GEORGE PELL
Prefect, Secretariat for the Economy
'One blessing I think we have is I think we know where we are financially in the Vatican now. And that was much less clear before Pope Francis became pope. I'm not sure that anyone else would have been able to be prepared to back the reform, the financial reforms the way the Holy Father is. We depend upon his continued support, but the changes are quite substantial.â?
Now, Card. Pell says the most difficult task is being patient as programs for education and staff development continue, helping the Vatican continue to carry out the reforms and put honesty and transparency back at the top.
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