Pope Francis appoints Cardinal Pell to head new Vatican financial office, “Secretariat for the Economy”

Details from National Catholic Reporter: 

Pope Francis has approved a set of sweeping moves to reorganize the financial and administrative structures of the Catholic church’s central bureaucracy, creating a new central office with wide control particularly of economic issues, the Vatican announced Monday.

Sydney Cardinal George Pell will head the new office, known as the Secretariat for the Economy. Announcing the news in a statement, the Vatican said Pell would have “authority of all the economic and administrative activity within the Holy See and the Vatican City State.”

Francis’ decision to reorganize the Vatican’s economic and administrative structures comes after criticism in recent years that its operations, especially in financial matters, occur in secret and with little public accountability.

Last week, Francis and the Council of Cardinals met with three separate groups appointed by Francis to investigate the Vatican’s various financial operations.

Monday’s release states that Francis decided to create the new secretariat following a meeting with one of those groups and at the suggestion of the Council of Cardinals.