Roughly 90 miles from Milan, Turin holds 10 of the more than 30 deaths in Piedmont, which neighbors Lombardy, the region most heavily impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. As of Wednesday evening, there were a total of 74,386 cases in Italy, with an increase of 3,491 since Tuesday.

Fatalities between Tuesday and Wednesday rose by 683, for a total of 7,503 dead since the outbreak began. However, the number of those cured is also rising, currently at 9,362, according to the Italian Ministry of Health. Read more

In an article in the National Catholic Register, Rome correspondent Edward Pentin wrote that Francis's choice of cardinals is among the indicators of his pontificate's direction.

Pentin noted that Francis has chosen not to award "so many red hats to traditional cardinalatial sees, especially in Italy".

Examples Pentin cited include Venice and Turin.

Rather, the Pope has gone to the global peripheries for new cardinals, reflecting the universality of the Church.

Pentin described the elevation to cardinal of Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi of Tonga as "unprecedented".

The writer noted Tonga's population was little more than 100,000 and that Protestants outnumber Catholics significantly.

Another such appointment from a small state was that of Cardinal Arlindo Gomes Furtado of Cape Verde, Pentin noted.

"Despite [such appointments of cardinals] being a widely welcomed innovation that focuses on parts of the world where the Church is growing fastest, not all are happy with the move," Pentin added.

"One senior Church official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Register that emphasis on the peripheries may sound worthy, but it omits the fact that being a member of the College of Cardinals involves ‘some very weighty responsibilities, in terms of advising the Pope, electing a Roman pontiff'.

"For this reason, he believes, ‘a certain respect for the very large sees is logical'.

"In any case, the Church official said, the bishop of a large diocese is already ‘involved in a big way in the peripheries of his own diocese'.

"Others believe new cardinals from the peripheries will also be taken less seriously," Pentin wrote, "and have comparably less influence than those from the traditionally-cardinalatial metropolitan sees."

In April last year, Pope Francis named Cardinal Mafi to be a member of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which promotes and coordinates Catholic charitable giving

In 2011, there were 15,441 Catholics in Tonga, making up 15 per cent of the population.

Catholics were the third largest denomination in Tonga, behind Methodists (54 per cent) and Mormons (18 per cent).

Sources

• National Catholic Register
• Catholic News Service
• Matangitonga
• Image: Catholic News Service

During Msgr Giovanni Carrù's 20 years as pastor in a Turin parish, many paintings, statues, furniture and other objects were lost and then found in private homes.

Two candelabra ended up being among the possessions of former Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, according to a National Catholic Reporter article by investigative journalist Jason Berry.

These were returned by the cardinal.

The NCR story was based on a report in a Rome daily newspaper.

A special division of the Italian police charged with the protection of cultural heritage had two investigators focused on Msgr Carrù and missing religious property.

Authorities worked with disgruntled parishioners in the monsignor's native region of Piedmont.

Msgr Carrù is currently secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, a job that oversees the catacombs.

He worked at the Congregation for Clergy between 2003 and 2009, where he was an under-secretary.

Some sources say he got the job courtesy of former Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who also came from Piedmont.

Part of Msgr Carrù's role was there was to manage correspondence concerning sales of church properties and items of high value, in cases where bishops had to seek Vatican permission.

This saw him involved in a type of insider-trading scheme with an American company, the Follieri Group, the NCR article stated.

During a period when US bishops were closing churches at a rate of more than a one a week, Msgr Carrù was "instrumental" in "identifying prospective churches to buy and resell".

A vice-president of the Follieri Group at the time was a nephew of Cardinal Sodano.

The NCR article stated Msgr Carrù is considered an unindicted co-conspirator by the FBI for his role in the 2008 criminal scheme to sell American church property.

The Vatican Bank was used to wire payments in the scheme, which saw company founder Raffaello Follieri eventually convicted and imprisoned for five years.

Msgr Carrù was forced to leave the Congregation for Clergy in 2009.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Addicting Info