Bild reported that the Grand Chancellor of the Order, Baron Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, accepted a 30 million Swiss franc donation (US$31 million) on behalf of the Order from what it called a dubious trust in Geneva.

Boeselager denies any wrongdoing. He told Bild that he had had lawyers check that the trust, which is now registered in New Zealand, was clean, and the Order's government unanimously approved of the fund.

He said he did not know details about the donor, Mr. Latour — only that the money came from a wealthy French family, and that the funds had been put into a foundation before the Second World War. "Since then there has been only investment, that's all that I know," he said.

The trustee, Ariane S appears in the "Panama Papers".

In a Jan 6 email to the National Catholic Register she denied that she or her organisation had any connection to the Order of Malta.

In her correspondence with the National Catholic Register, she referenced Swiss law and criminal penalties if the name of the trust or its members, or allegations about the trust, were published.

New Zealand's trust law was thrust into the spotlight after a massive document leak from a Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, showed New Zealand was being used by overseas investors to keep tax secrets.

The documents show that the law firm's services appear to have been used to "facilitate massive money laundering, tax avoidance and criminal activity, including drugs and arms dealing".

Mossack Fonseca has now closed its offices in New Zealand.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• ncregister.com
• radionz.co.nz
• Image radionz.co.nz

Cardinal Burke, 66, was formerly the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's highest court.

His role in the Order of Malta is largely a ceremonial one, without any influence in the governance of the Church.

Given his age and seniority, the much-anticipated move is unprecedented and many therefore view it as a demotion.

But he is expected to continue to live in Rome and be prominent in the media.

Cardinal Burke has been an outspoken critic of the recent Synod on the Family where many participants called for the Church to adopt less harsh language when talking about homosexuality, the divorced and remarried, and cohabiting couples.

He said many prelates were horrified at the suggestion there could be good elements in mortally sinful acts.

Last week, Cardinal Burke reportedly likened the Church to "a ship without a rudder".

He insisted he was not speaking out against the Pope personally, but was raising concerns about his leadership.

He said he does not see himself as an opponent of the Pope.

In recent days, Cardinal Burke told media the idea that the Church could teach the indissolubility of marriage, while at the same time denying that truth in practice, is unacceptable.

Last year, Pope Francis removed Cardinal Burke from a committee of the Congregation for Bishops that advises the Pope on episcopal appointments.

A small group of cardinals had advised Francis to remove him from the committee because of his tendency to block candidates who were considered not sufficiently orthodox or capable of serving as bishops.

Last week, Austrian church authorities denied Cardinal Burke permission to celebrate Mass in the extraordinary form in a parish church.

The new prefect of the Apostolic Signtura is Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, who was the Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States - effectively the Holy See's foreign minister.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the apostolic nuncio in Australia, has been appointed to Archbishop Mamberti's former position.

Sources

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Register
• Catholic World News
• Image: Courageous Priest

Writing for L'Espresso, Vatican journalist Sandro Mangister posited that the next "victim" of Pope Francis's "revolution" will be the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, Cardinal Raymond Burke.

The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura is the Church's highest judicial authority, other than the Pope.

Magister believes Cardinal Burke will be appointed "cardinal patron" of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a purely honorary position, which would be a spectacular ecclesiastical demotion.

Previously, being appointed cardinal patron of the Malta order would be in addition to other roles, Magister noted, so being appointed to this role by itself would be without precedent.

It would lead to Cardinal Burke not having any role in the Roman Curia at all.

Liturgically and theologically, Cardinal Burke is very close to Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Magister wrote.

The journalist pointed out that Cardinal Burke had crossed swords with other US prelates over issues like giving Communion to politicians who vote for laws against Church teaching.

Cardinal Burke also once described Pope Francis's Evangelii Gaudium as "orientational", but not "magisterial".

An expert in canon law, Cardinal Burke "is also recognised as having the rare virtue of never having struck any deals to obtain ecclesiastical promotions or benefices", Magister wrote.

But recent conservative decisions by the Apostolic Signatura might have counted against him the journalist wrote.

Late last year, Pope Francis removed Cardinal Burke as a member of the Congregation for Bishops.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis's so-called C9 council of cardinals has met this week to further work on Church governance reform.

In their three days of talks and study, the nine cardinals "focused on two principle hotspots", a Vatican spokesman said in a written statement.

The first topic included the laity, the family, "the role of women in society and the Church, youth, childhood, or matters related to lay associations and movements and so on", Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, wrote.

The second topic combined the issues of "justice and peace, charity, migrants and refugees, health, and the protection of life and ecology, especially human ecology", the written statement said.

The way the different issues were divided into two major areas seemed to lend credence to news reports predicting mergers of pontifical councils into larger congregations.

Sources

• L'Espresso
• Catholic World News
• Catholic News Service
• Image: Patheos