Vatican: No imminent reform; Benedict moving to convent

  A top Vatican official said it was too soon to know what reforms Pope Francis would make, as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was to return to the Vatican Thursday.

It is "absolutely premature to put forward any hypothesis" about overhauling the troubled Vatican hierarchy, Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, substitute secretary for general affairs in the Vatican Secretariat of State, told the Vatican's semiofficial newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

His remarks followed widespread speculation about imminent reforms 2 1/2 weeks after Francis named a group of eight cardinals from around the world to advise him in governing the church and reforming the Holy See's dysfunctional bureaucracy, which has been rocked by scandals.

"It's a bit strange," Becciu said. "The pope still has not met the group of advisers he chose and already the advice is raining down."

The eight cardinals include Boston Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley and prelates from Australia, Chile, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Germany, Honduras, India and Italy.

Asked about rumors Francis intended to close the Vatican Bank, enmeshed in an alleged money-laundering scandal, Becciu said, "The pope was surprised to see attributed to him phrases that he never said and that misrepresent his thought."

Besides the church scandal, the Vatican faces a crisis left over from Benedict of child sexual abuse by priests and the "VatiLeaks" scandal, in which papal documents were leaked to the news media.

Benedict gave Francis a file on the Vatican troubles produced by an investigative committee of cardinals.

The 86-year-old pope emeritus, in retirement in the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo south of Rome since Feb. 28, was to arrive Thursday at the Vatican by helicopter, "weather permitting," Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.

The weather in Rome was forecast to be sunny and 70 degrees Fahrenheit at 8 p.m.

A group of Vatican officials was expected to welcome Benedict at the Vatican helipad, Lombardi said, without specifying further.

It was not clear if 76-year-old Francis, elected pope March 13, would personally welcome Benedict back.

Benedict's return will present the Vatican with the unique situation of a reigning pope and a retired pope living a short distance from each other inside the Vatican walls, the Religion News Service said.

Benedict will live in the remodeled Mater Ecclesiae monastery, on the Vatican hill inside the Vatican Gardens, with German Archbishop Georg Ganswein, his secretary.

Ganswein also serves Francis as prefect of the papal household.

Benedict will also live with four laywomen who are consecrated members of the Memores Domini group, committed to lifelong celibacy, Lombardi said.

Before his resignation, Benedict said he would "withdraw into prayer" and live his final years "hidden from the world."

The monastery was founded by John Paul II to have a monastic group of nuns inside Vatican City who pray for the pope and the church.