Pope Pius XI last week appointed Andrew Francis Cardinal Fruhwirth, papal nuncio at Munich, to be Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church. Thereby His Holiness revived an office, founded originally to collect money to maintain the papal armies, which became a great scandal in the 17th Century. So great was the probable graft that Lorenzo Corsini, later Pope Clement
XII (1730-40) paid 30,000 gold scudi (about $30,000) for his appointment as chancellor. Pope Pius VII (1800-23) reformed the office when Napoleon obviated the need for papal armies.
Chancellor Fruhwirth's duties will be to...
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