Pope orders high-living retired prelates to shun money and power
Vatican City — Pope Francis, in a decision affecting Vatican officials and bishops around the world, on Thursday ordered them to lead simple lives and renounce any desire for power after they retire from senior positions. A number of Vatican officials and bishops have come under fire in recent years for holding on to luxuries, such as large apartments and in some cases even police escorts, after they leave office. Francis himself gave up the spacious papal apartments in favour of a simple suite in a Vatican guest house. Now a new Church law says prelates should "strip themselves of desires of power and of the pretence of being indispensable". Francis made his comments in a new law known as a Motu Proprio, Latin for "by his own initiative". Its Italian title can be roughly translated as "Learning to Resign". While the law makes changes in the bureaucratic aspects of the official retirement age, which remains 75 but allows some Vatican official to stay on at the pope’s discretion, muc...
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