A former top Vatican official has accused Pope Francis of having known of allegations of sex abuse by a prominent US cardinal for five years before accepting his resignation last month and he called on the pontiff to resign.

In recent decades, popes have reinforced centralised control of the Catholic Church by influencing who gets promoted in each country, writes TP O’Mahony

Last weekend’s decision by Pope Francis to remove the conservative US Cardinal Raymond Burke from his position as head of the Vatican’s Apostolic Signature, the Holy See’s Supreme Court, signals a new, harder edge in the battle within the Vatican between those who would modernise the Catholic Church and those who would, as they see it, defend its traditions and truths.

Pope Francis has warned Vatican administrators that their work can take a downward spiral into mediocrity, gossip and bureaucratic squabbling if they forget that theirs is a professional vocation of service to the church.

Formally speaking, the race for the next pope doesn’t open until 9.30am on Monday, when all the cardinals who have made it to Rome by then will meet for the first time in what’s called a “general congregation”.

FOLLOWING the pope’s stunning announcement, the time for the Catholic Church to elect its first non-European leader is approaching — and it could be a Latin American.

The "spiritual Olympics" of the Catholic Church will be staged in Ireland next week, attracting thousands of pilgrims from around the world.

A spokesperson for the Bishop of Limerick has said Dr Murray is remaining in Rome to await developments concerning his future.

THE Vatican said yesterday it is drafting new guidelines for accepting candidates for the priesthood that will address the question of whether gays should be barred.