Conspiracy theories, rivals and bribes rock the Vatican

Australian Cardinal George Pell arrives at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on September 30, 2020, returning for the first time since being acquitted of sexual abuse charges. Pell arrived for a “private visit” amidst extraordinary allegations in the Italian press against a former Vatican official who may have paid more than a million dollars to tilt the sexual abuse case against Cardinal Pell. Earlier this year, Australia’s High Court quashed Pell’s conviction on charges of molesting two choirboys in the 1990s.

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