Ten people, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, are on trial in the Vatican, facing multiple charges related to financial malfeasance, particularly regarding the Vatican Secretariat of State’s investment in a property on Sloane Avenue in London. The Vatican lost more than $200 million on the deal.

St John the Baptist, who had been preaching and gathering followers, “goes from prophet to disciple,” Pope Francis said.
Yet, “he is not interested in having a following for himself, in gaining prestige and success, but he bears witness and then takes a step back, so that many would have the joy of meeting Jesus.”

The Holy Father, who had praised the Cardinal for keeping his faith “with perseverance even in the hour of trial,” arrived in St Peter’s Basilica at the end of the Mass to preside over the final rite of commendation, as he usually does for cardinals who die in Rome.

Welcome to Issue 38 of The Record Magazine. Firstly, we feature a special interview with Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB and America Magazine journalist, Gerard O’Connell, who tells of Archbishop Costelloe’s words to Pope Francis, “The church in Australia is alive!”

More than 800 people gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sunday 8 January for the 11am Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany, following the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Saturday 31 December, aged 95, nearly 10 years after leaving the papacy to retire to what he said would be a life of prayer and study.

Just as Pope Benedict dedicated his pontificate to directing the faithful’s focus to the person of Christ, Pope Francis dedicated his homily to Christ’s loving devotion and suffering witness as the “invitation and the program of life that he quietly inspires in us,” rather than on a summary of his predecessor’s life.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI, who had an impressive record as a teacher and defender of the basics of Catholic faith, is likely to go down in history books as the first pope in almost 600 years to resign.

The 5 January funeral Mass for Pope Benedict XVI will be a papal funeral with a few changes to fit with the fact that he was not the reigning pope and has not left behind a “sede vacante.”

Here are some important events in the life of Pope Benedict XVI.

In trying to help people understand how belief in God is a natural part of life and provides grounding for the values that protect human dignity and peaceful coexistence, the late Pope Benedict XVI saw Jews and Muslims as natural allies.