George Pell called to Vatican to oversee budget as Pope looks to cut waste

Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, is bound for Rome after being appointed the Vatican’s new “budget supremo” in a move aimed at modernising the church’s bureaucracy.

Pope Francis on Monday revealed Pell would become one of the most powerful men in the Catholic church with his new body having authority over all economic and administrative activities within the Holy See and Vatican.

The shake-up – following a wave of scandals at the Vatican bank – is the first major overhaul of the church’s outdated and inefficient bureaucracy in 25 years.

The Vatican said Pell “has been asked to start work as soon as possible” as the head of the secretariat for the economy.

The Archbishop said in a statement he was “deeply honoured” to have been appointed to the role, adding that the new system included changes to management, improvements in financial planning, reporting and auditing as well as greater involvement of senior lay experts in policy making.

They were “important and very significant moves in the right direction”.

“If we make better use of the resources entrusted to us we can improve our capacity to support the good works of the church, particularly our works for the poor and disadvantaged ... I am looking forward to implementing these recommendations as requested by the Holy Father.”

Pell said the church needed to be open to expert advice and aware of any opportunity to improve the way it conducted its financial administration.

“It is an enormous task and it is important we embrace and implement the recommended changes as soon as practicable.”

Pell will shortly return to Sydney from Rome and is expected to take up his new position at the Vatican by the end of March.

The new economics secretariat will oversee the finances of the Holy See – the central governing structure of the Catholic Church – and the Vatican City, the 44-hectare city state in central Rome which includes the profit-making Vatican museums and post office.

Tim Fischer, Australia’s first ambassador to the Holy See, said it was a wise move by Pope Francis to appoint Pell.

“This is long overdue and I had urged this step in my recent book on Rome,” Fischer told AAP from Oslo. “I wish Cardinal Pell well in this new role heading the new department.”

The Catholic church in Australia is currently under the microscope of a royal commission into institutional responses to child sex abuse.

Pell was criticised in late 2013 for his evidence to a separate state parliamentary inquiry but was publicly backed by the prime minister, Tony Abbott, also a high-profile Catholic.

The church in Australia will now begin the process of finding a new Archbishop of Sydney to replace Pell.

Francis Sullivan, the chief executive of the church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council, congratulated Pell, saying he would leave his current role after giving evidence at the royal commission in Sydney next month.

“The cardinal has advised me he remains fully committed to co-operating with the royal commission and making himself available as it sees fit,” Sullivan said in a statement.

The president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Denis Hart, also congratulated Pell, saying he was well suited to such an important appointment.

“Over the past few years, different financial issues have challenged the Vatican with separate Vatican offices being called into question for their financial stewardship,” he said in a statement.

“Cardinal Pell has shown exceptional and high-profile leadership in the Australian Church and will have an important contribution to make to the universal Church in this area of finance.”

News Corporation executive chairman Rupert Murdoch lauded the announcement on Twitter.

“Pope Francis appoints brilliant Cardinal Pell from Sydney to be no.3 power in Vatican,” he wrote. “Australia will miss him but world will benefit.”

— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) February 25, 2014

Pope Francis appoints brilliant Cardinal Pell from Sydney to be no.3 power in Vatican. Australia will miss him but world will benefit.