Cardinal George Pell, Vatican’s economy minister, will make his first court appearance in Australia on Wednesday on charges of sex crimes.

Days after time ran out for the priests of Ahiara diocese, in Nigeria’s Imo state, to write and apologise for having refused to accept Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke, their bishop for the past five years, Pope Francis, through some of his closest advisers, has begun to respond to each of them.

WO weeks after the expiration of papal directive to Catholic priests in Ahiara Mbaise Diocese to write individual letters of apology to the Catholic Pontiff or risk suspension, there is no clear indication if all the priests had complied with the directive and what action Pope Francis, who was visibly vexed by the embarrassment the protracted rejection of Bishop Peter Okpaleke, has taken.

Pope Francis, a regular denouncer of gossip and intrigue inside the Vatican, has hung a sign outside his private study warning whiners to stay away.

Pope Francis,Tuesday, expanded the criteria for becoming a saint to include caring for patients with highly infectious diseases, “free offering of one’s life” in an apostolic letter published by the Vatican.