Time is running out for the ‘Dictator Pope’ as a new scandal hits Rome

Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga of Honduras, one of the most influential figures in the Catholic Church, has been accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Catholic university in his ceremonial role as its chancellor – and of investing more than $1.2 million in London financial companies, some of which has now allegedly vanished.

These claims form part of a set of spectacularly damaging but unproven allegations by the widely read Italian media outlet L’Espresso. You can read the report here; it also speculates about a ‘close and unseemly relationship’ between a bishop close to Maradiaga and a mysterious man apparently posing as a priest.

The accusations are a disaster for Pope Francis, recently the subject of a book called The Dictator Pope which portrays him – not necessarily fairly – as an ruthless opportunist who turns a blind eye to wrongdoing by members of his inner circle. In last week’s Holy Smoke Spectator podcast, I discussed it with two leading Catholic commentators.