A Vatican court condemns Cardinal Becciu, former advisor to Pope Francis, for financial crimes

2023-12-17 04:40:29

December 16, 2023, 8:40 PM

A Vatican court sentenced Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, former advisor to Pope Francis, to five and a half years in prison for financial crimes.

Becciu, 75, is the highest-ranking official in the Vatican to face such charges in history, and was once seen as a papal contender.

The trial focused on a London real estate deal that ended with huge losses for the Catholic Church.

The cardinal strongly denied the charges which included embezzlement and abuse of power.

His lawyer said his client was innocent and would appeal.

Becciu was on trial with nine other defendants. All were convicted on some charges and found not guilty on others.

The trial, which exposed infighting and intrigue at the highest ranks of the Vatican, had dragged on for two and a half years.

After three judges spent more than five hours considering the verdict, the president of the court, Giuseppe Pignatone, announced that Cardinal Becciu was convicted of embezzlement.

The others, who included finance workers, lawyers and former Vatican employees, were charged with various crimes, including fraud, money laundering and abuse of power. They all denied it.

“We reaffirm the innocence of Cardinal Angelo Becciu and we will appeal,” Becciu’s lawyer, Fabio Viglione, said after the verdict. “We respect the ruling, but we will definitely appeal,” he insisted.

The judicial plot

The case, the first of a cardinal tried in a Vatican court, was the stuff of intrigue and trickery.

These were accusations of financial irregularities at the top of the Vaticana covert activity of the type that has often characterized the secret world of the Holy See.

It centered on a building that was not in the Vatican, or even in Rome, but a thousand kilometers away, in London: 60 Sloane Avenue in the affluent Chelsea area, a former warehouse belonging to the Harrod’s department store. .

Getty Images Cardinal Becciu (left) was a close advisor to Pope Francis.

In 2014, the Vatican spent more than 200 million euros ($220 million) to acquire a 45% stake in the building, which was planned to be converted into luxury apartments.

In 2018, the Vatican Secretariat of State had decided to buy the property directly, investing another 150 million euros in the purchase.

Supposedly the person who signed the entire agreement was Cardinal Becciu, who at that time was the Vatican’s substitute for General Affairs – in effect, the Pope’s chief of staff.

The money, part of which was intended for charity, had been deposited in a trust run by the Italian financier Raffaele Mincionebased in London, who orchestrated the purchase.

When the Secretariat later sought financial help from the Vatican’s own bank, it sparked concern and a raid by Vatican police that led to charges against Becciu, Mincione and eight others.

But the investigation into Becciu’s affairs was not limited to the London property deal.

Getty Images Francis named Becciu a cardinal in 2018.

Diversion of money from the Catholic Church

The cardinal was also accused of funneling large sums of money to his Sardinian diocese, some of which allegedly benefited his family.

And it is alleged that he paid almost 600,000 euros to another of the defendants, Cecilia Marognato help free a nun kidnapped in Mali.

Prosecutors said he instead spent much of the money on luxury items and vacations.

Marogna, who had offered her services to the Vatican as an intelligence expert, visited Becciu’s residence on several occasions. Both denied allegations of a sexual relationship.

The charges against Becciu made him the first cardinal to be tried for financial crimes.

It also led Pope Francis to strip him of rights, including the right to vote in a future conclave to elect the supreme pontiff’s successor.

After the Pope removed him from office in 2020, the cardinal held a press conference to defend his innocence.

“Until 6:02 p.m. on Thursday I felt like a friend of the Pope, a faithful executor of his will,” Becciu said. “Then the Pope says that he no longer has faith in me.”

The whole affair became a test for Francis’ goal of cleaning up the Vatican’s finances, which had long been plagued by scandals that plagued the papacy of his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

The outcome of the case could have significant implications for Francis’ legacy as a reformer.