Vatican Court Convicts Former Pope Adviser Of Financial Crimes

A Vatican court has jailed former Pope Francis’s adviser, Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, to five and a half years in prison for financial irregularities.

Becciu, 75, was the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to face such charges, and he was even considered a papal contender himself.

The trial focused on a London real estate transaction that resulted in massive losses for the Catholic Church.

He vehemently refuted the claims, which included embezzlement and misuse of office.

Cardinal Becciu’s lawyer stated that his client was innocent and that he would file an appeal.

He was on trial alongside nine other people. All were judged guilty on certain counts and not guilty on others.

Vatican Court Convicts Former Pope Adviser Of Financial Crimes

The trial, which uncovered infighting and intrigue at the highest levels of the Vatican, had been ongoing for two and a half years.

Cardinal Becciu was found guilty of embezzlement after three judges deliberated for more than five hours, according to Court President Giuseppe Pignatone.

Others, including financiers, attorneys, and ex-Vatican personnel, were charged with a variety of offenses, including fraud, money laundering, and abuse of office. They all denied doing anything wrong.

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

The first case in which a Cardinal was tried in a Vatican court was fraught with intrigue and skulduggery. It involves claims of financial misconduct at the Vatican’s highest levels, cloak-and-dagger activities typical of the Holy See’s hidden society.

Vatican Court Convicts Former Pope Adviser Of Financial Crimes

It was centered on a structure, not in the Vatican or even Rome but a thousand kilometers distant in London – 60 Sloane Avenue in affluent Chelsea, a former Harrod’s warehouse.

The Vatican spent more than €200 million ($220 million; £170 million) 2014 to acquire a 45% interest in the structure, which was to be turned into luxury flats.

By 2018, the Vatican’s Secretariat of State had chosen to buy the property outright, investing an additional 150 million euros. Cardinal Becciu, the Vatican’s Substitute for General Affairs at the time – effectively the Pope’s chief of staff – is said to have signed off on the entire agreement.

Raffaele Mincione, an Italian financier with a base in London who oversaw the acquisition, placed the funds in a trust that included a portion for charitable purposes.

When the Secretariat eventually sought financial assistance from the Vatican’s bank, it prompted suspicion – and a Vatican police raid, which resulted in the charges against Becciu, Mincione, and eight others.

However, the probe into Becciu’s affairs was not restricted to the London property transaction.

Vatican Court Convicts Former Pope Adviser Of Financial Crimes

The cardinal was also accused of directing large quantities of money to his native diocese of Sardinia, some of which allegedly went to his family. It was also claimed that he paid about €600,000 to another of the accused, Cecilia Marogna, to assist in the release of a nun kidnapped in Mali.

Prosecutors claimed she instead spent the majority of the money on luxury items and vacations. Marogna, who had volunteered her services to them as an intelligence expert, paid multiple visits to Becciu’s home. Both denied any sexual interaction.

Becciu became the first cardinal ever tried for financial crimes due to the charges against him. It also prompted Pope Francis to deprive him of some rights, notably the opportunity to vote in a future conclave to choose Francis’ successor.

Following the Pope’s removal from office in 2020, he held a press conference to declare his innocence.

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

The entire controversy became a test case for Pope Francis’ goal of cleaning up the Vatican’s finances, which had long been beset by scandal, bedeviling Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI’s reign.

The lawsuit’s outcome could have far-reaching consequences for Francis’ record as a reformer.

SOURCE – BBC