A cardinal who was sentenced to five and a half years in prison after being found guilty of embezzlement declared on Tuesday that he intended to participate in the following conclave – the elections to choose the successor to Pope Francis – even if the Holy See Press Bureau declared him a “non -electric”.
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who became the first cardinal to have been prosecuted by the Criminal Tribunal of the Vatican in December 2023, appealed, refusing the reprehensible acts. Becciu can always live in an apartment in the Vatican while his call is pending, according to CNN.
While the Press Office of the Holy See designated Becciu as an “non-electric”, Becciu demands that it participate in the conclave.
“The Pope admitted that the prerogatives of my cardinal were intact because there was no explicit wish to exclude me from the conclave, nor a request for explicit written renunciation on my part,” said Becciu to the Sardinian newspaper L’UNIONE SARDA, according to a translation of the Times of London.
Becciu was found guilty of embezzlement for a real estate investment in London and to channel money to a charity led by his brother and use the Vatican funds to pay an intelligence analyst.
In September 2020, Pope Francis would have demanded the resignation of Becciu, who led at the time the manufacturing office of the Vatican, on his role in the scandal, demanding that he abandon his rights and privileges as a cardinal. However, Becciu has kept the title of cardinal. Previously, Becciu was also No. 2 of the Vatican State Secretariat.
CNN reports that Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the Cardinal College, and Cardinal Pietro Parolin will be those who will finally decide if Becciu will participate in the next conclave.
Experts told Times that the Vatican was in a difficult situation, because the exclusion of Becciu could potentially give him reasons to challenge the elections, while allowing him to participate when he could not allow some to claim that the conclave was marred.
Cardinals under the age of 80 will meet to select the next pope within 20 days of the death of Francis.
Pope Francis died on Monday at 88 on Monday due to a stroke that led to a coma and “irreversible heart failure”, said the Vatican. His funeral and burial should take place on Saturday; Several world leaders, including President Donald Trump, should go to Rome to attend the ceremony.
