It’s the first arrest in a nearly yearlong investigation into the deal, which has convulsed the Vatican, raised questions about Pope Francis’ seven-year financial reform effort and exposed Machiavellian turf battles at the Holy See.

Lyon Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, 69, had offered to resign when the Lyon court in March 2019 first convicted him and gave him a six-month suspended sentence for failing to report the predator priest to police.

Pope Francis told the Legion of Christ religious order Saturday it still has a long road of reform ahead, making clear that 10 years of Vatican-mandated rehabilitation hadn't purged it of the toxic influences of its pedophile founder.

The Legion of Christ religious order is promising accountability and transparency following damaging new revelations of sex abuse and cover-up that have undermined its credibility, a decade after revelations of its pedophile founder disgraced the order.

Some Jewish groups and historians have said Pius, who was pope from 1939-1958, stayed silent during the Holocaust and didn't do enough to save lives.

To date, Vatican prosecutors haven't charged anyone. The pace and gaps in the case suggested the investigation partly involved a turf war in the Vatican.

The Vatican sought Wednesday to explain the absence of a key member of Pope Francis' protocol team following the scandal over a book on priestly celibacy co-written by Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

European and American nationalists gathered in Rome to attend a conference celebrating their beliefs while attacking globalism.

Following the AP story, the Legion announced on Monday it would conduct an investigation with the Vatican into the cover-up of the case, and vowed all superiors involved would cooperate.

Francis gingerly agreed to a nun's request for a kiss on the cheek, but said he would only approach her if she didn't bite.