The investigation concerned allegations of child sexual abuse made against Cardinal Pell, which the cardinal has strongly denied.

Cardinal Pell called for an inquiry into the leaks and wrote to Victoria's police minister requesting this.

Victoria police said it had referred the matter to the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission.

The commission will now review the case to see if it requires an investigation.

The police said they were concerned details had been made public about the investigation into allegations of historical child sexual abuse.

Victoria's state treasurer, Tim Pallas, earlier said he did not believe an investigation into the source of the leaks was necessary.

On Monday, Cardinal Pell is scheduled to testify to Australia's Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The cardinal will testify via video-link from the Hotel Quirinale in Rome.

This will be the third time he has testified before the commission and the second time he has used a video-link to do so.

He will be asked about how the Archdiocese of Melbourne handled allegations of child sexual abuse within its institutions while he served as auxiliary bishop.

He will also be asked how the Diocese of Ballarat handled abuse allegations while he served as an assistant priest.

He expected to be quizzed about notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, with whom he once shared a presbytery.

A group of survivors of child sexual abuse in Ballarat Catholic institutions and their supporters will fly to Rome to be in the same room as Cardinal Pell when he testifies.

This came after a crowd-funding campaign raised more than A$200,000.

Cardinal Pell will be subjected to questioning from the royal commission from 10 pm until 2am Rome time nightly for at least three and possibly four nights.

He has not been allowed to have a lawyer travel from his home country to be at his side.

Cardinal Pell has said he is prepared to meet the victims who travel to Rome.

Sources

• The Guardian
• The Guardian
• Los Angeles Times
• 9News
• SBS
• Image: The Guardian

Five people, including two journalists, are standing trial for the alleged leaking and dissemination of documents revealing mismanagement of the Holy See's finances.

On December 7, court a rejected a challenge to the jurisdiction of the Vatican in hearing the case, as the alleged crimes happened in Italy.

The trial has been adjourned without a specific date to resume.

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Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, 33, and Msgr Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, 54, were arrested by the Vatican Gendarmerie following an investigation.

Their arrests came days before the publication of two books about Vatican finances and associated scandals.

But while the priest was held in a Vatican prison, Dr Chaouqui was released after being detained for a day and a half, as she had reportedly begun to collaborate with the investigators.

Her detention was reportedly in a convent for women religious inside the Vatican, not in a jail cell, as other accounts reported.

America magazine has learned that her rapid release may be connected to the fact that she is two months pregnant.

America reported sources as saying that Pope Francis did not want Dr Chauoqui held in a prison because of her condition.

Dr Chaouqui reportedly asked Pope Francis to pray that she and her husband would have a child.

Msgr Vallejo Balda is in the same prison cell that was occupied by Benedict XVI's butler, Paolo Gabriele, 3 years ago.

After Dr Chaouqui's release, she has maintained her total innocence in conversations with journalists, and on Facebook and Twitter she stated: "I am not a mole. I have not betrayed the Pope. I never gave a page to anybody."

She blames Msgr Vallejo Balda for dragging her into all this.

Both were members of the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organisation of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See (COSEA) set up by Pope Francis in July, 2013, but which is now defunct having completed its work.

The priest was secretary of that commission and she was one of its members.

Both had access to the confidential financial and organisational information that appears in the two books just published.

Since her release, Dr Chaouqui has been interrogated on at least one occasion by Vatican investigators.

A source close to Pope Francis told Italian newspaper La Stampa that "the Holy Father is saddened by the betrayal of the two disloyal collaborators".

On Sunday, Francis said the leaks were "deplorable act that does not help" and "a mistake", but added that he is continuing with reform.

Sources

• America
• The Times
• Vatican Insider
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Strettoweb

It said in a statement that the two had been interrogated over the weekend, and that Holy See prosecutors upheld the arrests.

The pair were identified as Francesca Chaouqui and Msgr Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda.

The monsignor is a Vatican employee and secretary of COSEA, the body set up in 2013 to advise the Pope over the reform of Vatican finances, which Chaouqui was also a member of.

A Vatican spokesman said Msgr Vallejo Balda was being held in a jail cell in Vatican City, and that Chaouqui was allowed to go free because she co-operated in the probe.

The arrests came after an investigation into the "misappropriation and disclosure of classified documents and information", the Vatican stated.

The arrests come just days out from the release of two books detailing alleged financial wrongdoing and mismanagement at the Vatican.

Gianluigi Nuzzi's book "Merchants in the Temple" is scheduled for release on November 5.

This comes in the wake of his 2012 blockbuster "His Holiness", from which the Vatileaks scandal ensued and after which Pope Benedict XVI's butler was convicted for leaking documents.

Publicity ahead of the launch states the book will set out the real reasons why Benedict resigned.

It also examines the funding required to get a saint named, misdirected charitable donations and the "black hole" of the Vatican's pension system.

Italian journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi is also releasing "Avarice: Documents Revealing Wealth, Scandals and Secrets of Francis' Church".

This book will map out the Church's financial empire, from the luxurious lives of the cardinals to the big businesses of Catholic-run hospitals in Italy.

The Vatican denounced the publication of the two books, stating: ". . . it is clear that this time too, just as in the past, they are the fruit of a serious betrayal of the Pope's trust".

Italian media reports at the weekend stated that Vatican police were investigating the attempted theft of a laptop belonging to Libero Milone, the head of the Vatican's new finance office.

Other reports spoke of the hacking of Mr Milone's computer.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• AFP
• Associated Press
• Vatican Insider
• Image: CNN

But the secretariat has strongly rejected the claims published in L'Espresso magazine.

Basing its reports on alleged leaked receipts from the secretariat, L'Espresso claimed the cardinal spent $A720,000 in setting up his new department.

It was suggested Cardinal Pell spent A$3600 on garments at the Gamarelli tailors in Rome, as well as A$6650 on kitchen sink fittings.

There were also alleged details of business class travel in planes.

Cardinal Pell also spent more than A$5100 a month to rent an office and apartment at an upmarket address, where he spent nearly A$87,000 on furniture, according to the allegations.

The leaks about Cardinal Pell's spending were widely suspected to be the work of Vatican prelates unhappy about his incursions on their authority.

This recalled the Vatileaks scandal, in which letters revealing the inner workings of the Holy See were leaked by the butler of Pope Benedict XVI.

Vatileaks apparently sprang from an attempt to settle scores in the Roman Curia.

Some commentators see the latest leaks as an effort to discredit Cardinal Pell as he carries out a papal mandate for financial transparency and reform at the Vatican.

Critics have charged Cardinal Pell with accumulating excessive power and with replicating the very cronyism and secrecy he was meant to dislodge.

A spokesperson for the secretariat strongly rejected the L'Espresso reports, especially a suggestion the Pope Francis had grilled Cardinal Pell about the spending.

The secretariat spokesman also rejected the idea that the cardinal had made excessive expense claims.

Operational costs, including some initial costs, were below the level budgeted for when the secretariat was set up, the secretariat spokesman said.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi denounced the leaks, stating that "passing confidential documents to the press for polemical ends or to foster conflict is not new, but is always to be strongly condemned, and is illegal".

He said in a few months the secretariat will publish the financial statements for 2014 and the estimated budgets for 2015 for all of the entities of the Holy See, including the secretariat itself.

Sources

• Sydney Morning Herald
• Catholic Herald
• The Tablet
• Vatican Radio
• Crux
• Image: Channel News Asia

Andrea Gabriele described his son Paolo as a person of "absolute honesty . . . great generosity and moral integrity" in a letter he sent to the Italian television station Tgcom 24.

Paolo Gabriele is the only Vatileaks suspect so far arrested in connection with the scandal that has seen confidential letters and documents addressed to Pope Benedict leaked to the Italian media.

The 46-year-old father of three is being detained in a security cell in Vatican City on charges of aggravated theft.

"As a father and a Christian, I hope the whole truth comes out to the beneficial advantage of the Church," the arrested man's father wrote.

"I hope above all that this tremendous sacrifice carries spiritual fruit" not only for those in a position of responsibility within the church, but for furthering the repeated desire of the Pope for the "necessary cleaning of the Church", he said.

Catholic News Service said the letter came after a Vatican prosecutor decided to keep the Vatileaks suspect detained beyond the usual 50 days provided by Vatican law.

The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, told reporters on July 12 that Gabriele would probably stay in custody for another 10 days to allow the Vatican court to gather more evidence.

The investigating judge, Piero Antonio Bonnet, is expected to wrap up the formal questioning process, which began June 5, and reach a conclusion by the end of July, the Vatican spokesman said.

The judge can decide whether to dismiss the case or have Gabriele stand in a Vatican trial that would be open to the public.

Source:

Catholic News Service

Image: Arezza World News

The Vatican mole claimed on private Italian Television channel La7 to be one of more than 20 people in the Vatican who have leaked sensitive material to news media in the last few weeks.

Extracts from the interview reveal the whistle-blower believes the Vatican is engulfed in intrigue, secrecy and a climate of intimidation.

"Maybe there is a kind of omerta to prevent the truth from surfacing. Not because of a power struggle but maybe because of fear," he said.

The whistle-blower claims to have worked in the Secretariat of State, which is led by the apparently unpopular Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, whom some claim has fallen out of favour with the Holy Father and his supporters.

The whistle-blower said the Vatican is a place where "you can commit a murder and then disappear into the void" - a reference to a murky scandal in the Swiss Guard in 1998, when a young soldier shot dead the corps' commander and wife before apparently committing suicide.

The leaks have embarrassed the Vatican in recent weeks, with claims of corruption and nepotism, questions over the transparency of the Vatican bank and unconfirmed reports of an assassination plot against the Pope within the next 12 months.

The whistle-blower dismissed suggestions that documents were being leaked in exchange for money.

"Something like that is inconceivable for me. That would mean betraying what we believe in," he said.

Sources

• Daily Telegraph
• Image: Syracuse.com

This week, whenever such a chance encounter has occurred, conversation fairly quickly has turned to one question above all: What the hell is going on around here?

The basis for the question, of course, is the mushrooming Vatican leaks scandal, in which confidential documents are appearing in the papers almost on a daily basis, putting the Vatican in a highly unfavorable light. By now, there are almost too many to keep track, but big-ticket items have included:

Continue reading: Five questions about the Vatican leaks scandal

Image: NY Times

A number of people have been hinting at his resignation; however the soon-to-be 85 year old Pontiff concluded his speech with an indirect denial of his pending resignation.

"Pray also for me, that I may continually offer to the People of God the witness of sound doctrine and guide the holy Church with a firm and humble hand," he told the cardinals.

Leaks and poisonous comments from within the Vatican mean tensions are high at the moment. The place is rife with scheming.

"It is not easy to enter into the logic of the Gospel and to let go of power and glory," Benedict XVI repeated to the College of Cardinals.

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• Image: Buzzbox

Despite the documents appearing to have different levels of importance, Lombardi described the situation as "very sad".

He called on the press to "make careful distinctions," to not "just throw everything together" nor allow the reality of the situation to be "swallowed up in a whirlpool of confusion."

Reuters' is labeling the events as "monsignors' mutiny", and reports that almost daily embarrassments have put the Vatican on the defensive at a time when the Church faces a crisis of authority and relevance in the wider world.

"It is a total mess" said another high-ranking Vatican official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The leaks include

• letters by an archbishop who was transferred after he blew the whistle on what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism
• a poison pen memo which put a number of cardinals in bad light
• new suspicions about the Vatican Bank
• a cardinal complaining about another cardinal who spoke of an assassination attempt against the pope
• a memo from the cardinal in charge of financial oversight warning that a new law against money-laundering could be seen as a "step back" from reform, potentially creating "alarm" in the international community and among regulatory agencies.

Reuters believes the leaks are part of a campaign against the Vatican Secretary of State, and the pope's right hand man, Cartinal Bertone.

Bertone's reputation is one of a 'heavy-handed' power-broker who has alienated the Vatican's bureacuracy.

The job, traditionally occupied by a career diplomat, Bertone came to office with no diplomatic experience, rather being known to the pope by working under him when the pontiff was head of the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The embarrassing leaks have come at what is normally a joyful week when the pope admits more men into the College of Cardinals, the group who will eventually select his successor.

Sources

• Vatican Information Service
• Reuters
• NCR
• Image: The Deacon's Bench