Speaking in an interview on EWTN, the cardinal asserted that there is "no proof" of any wrongdoing and accused his detractors of attempting to tarnish his reputation.

"They have no arguments against my ideology and therefore they want to disavow or make defamation of my person" Müller said on "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo".

The allegations, which surfaced in a report by Catholic website The Pillar, claim that significant sums of money were mishandled during Müller's time at the CDF. They include accusations of large cash movements and the deposit of 200,000 euros into the cardinal's personal accounts.

"No money missing"

The accusations of financial impropriety reportedly influenced Pope Francis's decision not to renew Müller's appointment in 2017. However, the cardinal vehemently denied these claims, stating that all funds were properly managed and there were no irregularities.

Müller said these claims date back to "nine years ago" but that there was "no money missing" and that everything "was clarified with Cardinal [George] Pell" who led the Secretariat for the Economy at the time.

"There were no accusations against myself" Müller stated. He clarified that the account referenced was used for the congregation's mission and was not for personal use, with all transactions fully documented.

Addressing the timing of the allegations, Müller suggested they may be linked to the upcoming Synod on Synodality. He has been critical of some of the attendees for using it as an avenue to promote homosexuality and the ordination of women and advance other ideas contrary to Church doctrine.

He described the accusations as an "anonymous strategy" designed to discredit him as a participant in the synod.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

CathNews New Zealand

The Pillar

The investigation, initiated by the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy under Cardinal George Pell, revealed that large sums of cash and unclear money transfers were linked to Müller's office.

Sources within the Vatican stated that around 200,000 euros intended for the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's (CDF) account were found in Müller's private account.

The findings were presented in 2015 to Pope Francis who requested Müller to return the funds. No further sanctions were imposed. However Müller's term was not renewed, due reportedly to the mishandling of finances during his leadership.

The investigation began when Vatican officials discovered that several departments were storing large amounts of undocumented cash.

Random checks were ordered, revealing attempts by employees of the CDF to remove plastic bags filled with cash.

"Here we were counting out thousands, thousands of euros in cash, in the office [of the CDF] which they were trying to move out the back door in plastic bags" an official said.

"It was just surreal."

Clerical error

This prompted a thorough financial investigation in the autumn of 2015. It uncovered over half a million euros which were embezzled, undocumented or otherwise unaccounted for. Other significant amounts were found in cash or in external bank accounts.

Müller attributed the transfer of 200,000 euros to his private account to a clerical error.

"It is hard to see how any kind of credible accounting process could allow for hundreds of thousands of euros to go unaccounted [for], or for hundreds of thousands to be deposited in the wrong accounts and have no one notice [until there was an external investigation" the official told The Pillar.

There is no evidence suggesting Müller intended to use the money for personal ends. However, panic within the DDF offices following the announcement of the checks likely led to the hasty cash removal.

"I don't think Cardinal Müller was looking to get rich from the dicastery" a source close to the secretariat said, "but I think the aim was to get all the cash, and it was a lot of cash, out of the office and out of sight."

Müller has yet to respond to inquiries from "The Pillar".

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The Pillar

Katholisch

CathNews New Zealand

A new law aims to bring the Holy See into further compliance with recommendations from the Council of Europe's Moneyval committee, which in April 2021 flagged as problematic the lack of an overarching law governing the creation and administration of foundations registered in Vatican City.

Such foundations draw donations from the faithful, but until recently, they had little oversight or accountability.

The new law lays out strict governance, administrative and accounting regulations that put the foundations under the ultimate oversight of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy, with their books subject to review by the office of the auditor general.

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The 63-year-old Spanish Jesuit cited health reasons for his decision, and Maximino Caballero Ledo (pictured), the institution's secretary general since August 2020, will take his place.

"You are aware that I have undergone surgery during the course of this year, and as a result of this, I am undergoing medical treatment that has side effects that make it particularly difficult for me to carry out a task as demanding as the one I am entrusted with, and that requires a greater physical efficiency and mental concentration than what I have at this time," Fr Guerrero wrote.

Caballero, a married father of two, moved to the US in 2007.

He worked for the healthcare company Baxter International, before Fr Guerrero invited him to join him at the Vatican.

The two hail from the Spanish city of Mérida, had enjoyed a "long friendship."

Caballero's appointment means that, for the first time, the heads of all three of the Vatican's most prominent financial departments will be laymen.

The current auditor general of the Vatican is Alessandro Cassinis Righini, was appointed in May last year.

Since 2019, the head of the Holy See's Financial Supervisory and Information Authority is Carmelo Barbagallo; Pope Francis received both men in an audience on Saturday morning.

While Guerrero gave poor health as the reason for his departure, some in the Vatican say his decision to step down may also be linked to his resistance to certain points of Praedicate Evangelium, the apostolic constitution that brought reforms to the Roman Curia.

According to one highly placed Vatican source, the Spanish Jesuit had an "excessive desire to control" the Holy See's finance sector.

For instance, the source said Fr Guerrero was opposed to Pope Francis' decision last August to transfer all the Holy See's movable and liquid assets under the control of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), commonly called the "Vatican Bank."

Sources

The Pillar

La Croix International

He made the comment when the Secretariat released the 2019 balance sheet for the Roman Curia last Thursday.

"We want the budget to explain how the Holy See uses its resources to carry out its mission," he added.

The balance sheet provides the Vatican's most detailed-ever financial figures.

His comments were made a week after the resignation of Cardinal Angelo Becciu from the Roman Curia, after over a year of new reports of various financial scandals involving Becciu and the Holy See's Secretariat of State.

Guerrero says he "reads the newspapers" and that "it is possible that, in some cases, the Holy See was not only badly advised but also cheated.

"I believe we are learning from past mistakes or recklessness," he said.

The Vatican may have been swindled before by unscrupulous dealings, but being like a house of glass would provide some assurance to the faithful that the Holy See's finances were being well-managed.

The balance sheet's publication coincides with an onsite financial inspection by Moneyval, the Council of Europe's anti-money laundering watchdog.

It is expected that the evaluation will look at the role of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA).

APSA is the Holy See treasury and sovereign wealth manager. It also administers payroll and operating expenses for Vatican City.

In 2018, Pope Francis asked for Vatican investments to be centralized under APSAs management.

Guerrero says work to centralise the investments in APSA is advancing "little by little."

He says in April he asked all dicasteries transfer their liquid assets to APSA, in anticipation of revenue loss due to Italy's coronavirus lockdown.

The following month, Guerrero said the Vatican forecast a reduction in income of between 30 percent and 80 percent for the next fiscal year as a result of the pandemic.

The Vatican's financial report for 2019, which was released on 1 October, shows the expenditure of 60 curial offices for 2019 was 318 million euros and its income was 307 million euros.

The report says the 11 million-euro deficit is smaller than the 2018 deficit because of 68 million euros in investment returns. The increase was "mostly attributable to the effect of the recovery of share prices in 2019," the report explains.

Financial statements for other Vatican entities which collaborate with the Holy See are not included in the report.

These entities include the governorate of Vatican City State and Peter's Pence, the pope's charitable fund which comes from an annual Church-wide collection.

These institutions and others present their results and report to the corresponding authorities.

The balance sheet shows overall income and expenditure figures for 2019 and a breakdown of how much went to each curial department.

Expense categories are listed as apostolic mission, assets management, and services and administration.

Source

• Reuters
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Vatican News

The Spanish Jesuit is not a Vatican veteran and has only been in Rome for about two years, where he oversaw the various Jesuit institutions located in and around the Italian capital.

He had previously been serving in Mozambique.

There had been speculation a layperson would get the role, with the name of Claudia Ciocca, the current Director of Control and Vigilance of the Secretariat for the Economy, being floated in the press.

Guerrero's appointment came as a complete shock.

He arrives at the Secretariat at a time of disarray.

It has been without an effective head for two years, since its former prefect, Cardinal George Pell, returned to Australia in 2017 to fight charges of historic child abuse.

Even before Pell left the scene, Vatican watchers felt the cardinal was being increasingly side-lined, and that the Australian's efforts to strongarm other Vatican offices into transparency and cost-cutting had failed.

Also in 2017, the Vatican's first auditor general, Libero Milone, was fired after being accused of spying on the dealings of his superiors; he later claimed the Vatican's "old guard" pushed him out to protect themselves from the effects of financial reforms.

This summer, a series of financial scandals have rocked the Vatican.

In October, the Vatican Gendarmes raided the offices of the powerful Secretariat of State.

According to the Financial Times, the raid was connected to a $200 million shadowy property investment in London.

When the Italian newsweekly L'Espresso leaked a memo from the Vatican police barring five employees from entering Vatican territory, it led to the resignation of the long-serving head of the gendarmes, Domenico Giani.

The London deal was overseen by then-Archbishop Giovanni Becciu, at the time the pope's "substitute," or chief of staff. Becciu is now a cardinal, and the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Vatican is also facing a huge budget deficit, made worse by a drop in donations from the faithful in response to the sexual abuse scandal.

In other words, it wasn't too soon to finally get a hand on the rudder of the Vatican's main financial office.

But the question is, how firm a hand will Guerrero be able to apply? Continue reading

Pope Francis essentially reversed a 2014 law that had transferred the main operational section of the patrimony office to the Australian cardinal's Secretariat for the Economy as of Saturday.

Francis said he is removing the tasks because there needs to be an unequivocal and full separation between those who manage Vatican assets and those who supervise them.

Continue reading

Pell's latest promotion, to head an important new office in Rome with authority over all financial matters within the Vatican, is proof of the powerful friends he has made. Pell's appointment as Cardinal Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy was approved by Pope Francis — the third pontiff to have demonstrated extraordinary confidence in Pell's abilities since he was made Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne at the comparatively young age of 46 years in 1987.

As for enemies, it is not hard to compile a list of those who will be glad to see Pell go.

It would include most liberal Catholics, many priests who have served under him (one of whom once described him as 'a memory of all those silly stereotypes of authority that used to haunt us as children'), and many of his fellow bishops, who saw him as too eager to please Rome and too prone to do his own thing without acting in concert with them. Continue reading.

Chris McGillion is a former religious affairs editor for the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a senior lecturer in journalism at Charles Sturt University and co-author of the forthcoming book Reckoning: The Catholic Church and Child Sexual Abuse.

Source: Eureka Street

Image: The Australian