VATICAN CITY, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Before he was hospitalized for double pneumonia, Pope Francis was battling firm resistance from some of his own cardinals about how to plug a widening gap in the Vatican’s finances.
Three days before his hospitalization, Francis ordered the creation of a new high-level commission to encourage donations to the headquarters of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church.
The new “Commission on Donations for the Holy See”, announced by the Vatican on Wednesday as Francis was spending his 13th day in hospital, was formed after the pope faced push back against his proposals for Vatican budget cuts from within the Roman Curia.
