Pell’s funeral, final resting place revealed

George Pell’s funeral mass will be held at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, while his burial site has been confirmed.

Cardinal George Pell has been revealed as the author behind a scathing letter that details corruption in the Vatican.

Pope Francis will deliver a final commendation and salute during Cardinal Pell’s funeral mass at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

The funeral will begin at 7.30pm AEDT on Saturday.

Cardinal Pell’s body will be repatriated to Australia and buried below Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral.

Details of the repatriation are yet to be determined.

Explosive Pell memo slams ‘catastrophic’ Pope

Cardinal George Pell has ripped into Pope Francis from the grave, with an explosive secret memo scathing of his “catastrophic” papacy, detailing that the Vatican is losing as much as 35 million euros a year and that the pope has used his power to interfere in judicial proceedings.

Cardinal Pell not only penned a public column directly challenging Francis’ credibility about the process surrounding the adoption of the Catholic Church’s synod for The Spectator magazine, he is now revealed to be the author of a hard-hitting series of blogs to Vatican insiders and a bombshell secret letter that was distributed last March to Cardinals.

The previously anonymous Cardinal letter ridicules Francis’ tenure as being “a disaster”, “a catastrophe” and “decisions made for political correctness” and that the political influence of Pope Francis and the Vatican as being “negligible”.

It also alleges a widespread practice of wire-tapping inside the Vatican and claims that the extent of losses on an infamous corrupt investment, the Sloane Ave building in London, is as much as 217 million euros.

Pell slammed Pope Francis’ tenure as ‘catastrophic’. Picture: AFP

He said this was in addition to the $230 million lost by the Vatican in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal in the 1980s, and because of inefficiency and corruption, he said the Vatican has lost at least another 100 million euros in the past 25-30 years.

As well, he warned the Vatican finances were “serious” with financial deficits almost always every year of at least 20m euros which has escalated in the last three years to 30-35 million euros a year. In addition the Vatican faces a large pension fund deficit that is projected to be around 800 million euros in 2030.

Cardinal Pell’s criticisms and revelations, only fully understood after his sudden death on Tuesday following complications from hip surgery, pose a conundrum for Francis who will preside over Pell’s funeral on Saturday at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

France will deliver the rites of Ultima Commendatio and Valedictio at the funeral scheduled for 11.30am Rome time.

On the eve of the funeral it has emerged that Cardinal Pell, 81 was a secret contributor to the Vatican blog Settimo Cielo as well as the author of the Cardinals’ letter.

The Vatican journalist Sandro Magister had regular dialogue with Cardinal Pell, whom he said used the pseudonym “Demos” for the blog and had asked for him to distribute the Cardinals’ document, which he wanted to become public.

The Australian has seen the contributions made by Demos who says the centrality of Christ in teaching is weakened and Christ is removed from the centre. He also details the extent of the Vatican’s financial woes, which are much worse than many believed.

“Commentators from every school, though for different reasons, with the possible exception of one, agree that this pontificate is a disaster in many or more respects, a catastrophe,’’ he wrote.

Pell’s said the political influence of Pope Francis and the Vatican had been ‘negligible’. Picture: Reuters

“Previously the motto was: “Roma locuta. Cause finite est” (Rome has spoken, the cause is over). Today it is: “Roma loquitur. Confusio augetur” (Rome speaks, confusion grows)’’.

He added that the Christocentric legacy of St John Paul II in faith and morals is the object of systematic attacks.

In a blow to Francis’ papacy, “Demos” wrote that the political influence of Pope Francis and the Vatican is negligible. “Intellectually, papal writings show a decline from the levels of St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict. Decisions and policies are often “politically correct”, but there have been serious failures to uphold human rights in Venezuela, Hong Kong, mainland China and now the Russian invasion.

“There has been no public support for Catholic faithful in China who have been persecuted on and off for their allegiance to the papacy for more than 70 years. No public Vatican support for the Catholic community in Ukraine, especially Greek Catholics.

“These themes should be revisited by the next pope. The Vatican’s political prestige is now at a low ebb.”

The Cardinal document details accuses the Vatican of failing to respect the law, fleshed out in the Vatican’s ongoing trial of ten accused of financial malpractice.

“But the problem is older and broader,’’ he warned, detailing how Francis has changed the law four times during the trial to help the prosecution and that the pope had used his power as the Vatican head of state to interfere in judicial proceedings.

He accused the pope who “sometimes, if not often, rules with pontifical decrees, motu proprio, which eliminates the right of appeal of those affected”.

He said many staff members, often priests, have been hastily dismissed from the Vatican curia, often for no good reason.

He even said the pope had deprived Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was Cardinal Pell’s arch nemesis, of a fair trial in the current embezzlement case by removing him from office. “Everyone has the right to a fair trial,’’ he wrote.

The letter also highlights how Francis’s position had changed over the years, from strongly supporting reforms to opposing them, which he said is “a mystery and an enigma’’.