As head of a new Vatican department, Cardinal Farrell is in a position to bring lay people into positions of leadership in the church.

Those who know Bishop Delpini well describe him as “a very spiritual man, humble but not submissive, a great worker, far from the profile of a manager-bishop, very attentive to the personal relationship with priests.”

Cardinal Pell will return to Australia to appear in court at a hearing scheduled for July 6.

Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis’ chief financial adviser and Australia's most senior Catholic, is the highest-ranking Vatican official to ever be charged in the church’s long-running sexual abuse scandal.

Jesus “has not called you to become ‘princes’ in the church,” the pope said, but “to serve like him and with him.”

The pope's words can be read as an answer to those who hope his pontificate may end soon.