SPECULATION that Cardinal George Pell is in line for a senior Vatican post continues to swirl in and around the Catholic corridors of power - but the man himself is keeping mum. The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney was coy when quizzed yesterday by The Weekend Australian about reports this week in a leading Italian newspaper, Il Giornale, that he had been "officially nominated" by Pope Benedict XVI as the successor to Cardinal Battista Re, the current prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
"Who knows about those Italian reports? They are either misinformed or better informed than I am," Cardinal Pell said.
The position would involve overseeing the selection of new bishops around the world. The Italian newspaper claimed that Cardinal Pell's appointment could be announced within weeks.
But, in the meantime, Cardinal Pell is busying himself promoting his new book, Test Everything: Hold Fast to What is Good.
The 370-page tome, launched last night at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, is a collection of speeches and lectures delivered by Cardinal Pell on a broad range of topics, including the "basic call to believe", as well as education and health.
Cardinal Pell said the book was motivated by a desire to restore a high level of religious discourse among Australians. He said writing, though time-consuming, had been a life-long passion.
"Writing is certainly something I appreciate," said Cardinal Pell, who has written a weekly column for a Sydney newspaper for the past nine years.
Indeed, he delights in a recent encounter with a Year 12 student, who asked him if he were a journalist.
"I told him I was," Cardinal Pell said.
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