You should definitely trim here and there, but please focus your attention on fiddling the economic parameters to conjure up a bodgie 2012-13 budget surplus. No one will mind, really.

It's difficult to ignore the role of the Hillsong Church when determining who really runs Christmas in Australia. The Church not only commands the attention of its followers at this time of year, but can also dominate the music charts and put on some of the country's most extravagant Christmas pageants.

This week in London, Australia's Cardinal George Pell opened a new front in the church's age-old war on science by telling the world there really isn't enough evidence to believe in man-made warming.

Cardinal George Pell’s new pilgrim centre in Rome has just been blessed by the Pope. But how much did it all cost? And who exactly is paying?

George Pell missed out on a spot on our list of powerful Sydneysiders, but the opening of a lavish new refuge for Australian tourists in Rome testifies to his influence within the Catholic Church.