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- Jun 22, 2020
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ROME—Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu walked the short distance from his apartment in Vatican City to the residence of Pope Francis, expecting to discuss his work overseeing the canonization of saints.
The Italian cardinal was a star, even mentioned as a potential future pope. Twenty minutes later, he emerged from the 2020 meeting with a very different status—that of an accused criminal. Vatican magistrates alleged Becciu had embezzled more than $100,000 through a nonprofit group run by his brother. Francis told Becciu to resign his Vatican post.
Since the summer of 2021, the 75-year-old Becciu has been on trial for embezzlement, abuse of office and witness tampering. He is the first cardinal to be tried in Vatican City’s criminal court, and prosecutors are seeking a sentence of more than seven years in prison. Becciu has denied any wrongdoing.
Nine others, including former Vatican officials and outsiders, face charges in the trial, which centers on losses from a failed London property investment. The charges also concern the alleged theft of money intended to free a kidnapped nun but purportedly spent instead on resort vacations and luxury goods from Prada and Louis Vuitton. Verdicts are expected this week in the case, which has aired accusations of Vatican vendettas, as well as Becciu’s secretly recorded conversation with the pope.
Francis was elected with a mandate to reform the Vatican’s management and improve its often slapdash finances, following years of scandals. Yet progress in modernizing its governance has been patchy.
www.wsj.com
The Italian cardinal was a star, even mentioned as a potential future pope. Twenty minutes later, he emerged from the 2020 meeting with a very different status—that of an accused criminal. Vatican magistrates alleged Becciu had embezzled more than $100,000 through a nonprofit group run by his brother. Francis told Becciu to resign his Vatican post.
Since the summer of 2021, the 75-year-old Becciu has been on trial for embezzlement, abuse of office and witness tampering. He is the first cardinal to be tried in Vatican City’s criminal court, and prosecutors are seeking a sentence of more than seven years in prison. Becciu has denied any wrongdoing.
Nine others, including former Vatican officials and outsiders, face charges in the trial, which centers on losses from a failed London property investment. The charges also concern the alleged theft of money intended to free a kidnapped nun but purportedly spent instead on resort vacations and luxury goods from Prada and Louis Vuitton. Verdicts are expected this week in the case, which has aired accusations of Vatican vendettas, as well as Becciu’s secretly recorded conversation with the pope.
Francis was elected with a mandate to reform the Vatican’s management and improve its often slapdash finances, following years of scandals. Yet progress in modernizing its governance has been patchy.
He Might Have Been Pope. Instead, He May Go to Prison.
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu was a rising star under Pope Francis—until corruption charges left him battling for exoneration and his freedom.
www.wsj.com
