Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu’s appeal to Pope Francis in July 2021 was intended to urge the leader of the Catholic Church to make statements that could be helpful in the process, Italian news agency Adnkronos reported on Friday. She referred to a letter from Sardinian Sassari’s prosecutor to the Vatican prosecution.
The Public Prosecution Service of the Papal States is therefore now also investigating the formation of a criminal organization against Becciu, according to the 37th hearing in the Vatican on Thursday, in which the recording was played.
This separates another thread in the complicated process: According to media reports, Becciu called not about purchasing the property, but about payments to a security adviser he had appointed, who would conduct negotiations with a nun kidnapped in Mali. This adviser must answer in case of misappropriation of Vatican funds. During the phone call, Becciu asked for confirmation that he had been authorized by the Pope to make payments.
A relative of Beccius, who is from Sardinia, is said to have helped the 74-year-old take it up, the reports said. Sardinian authorities came into possession of the audio file during investigations on the island. The call is from July 24, when Francis was still recovering from bowel surgery and the process was about to begin. It is clear that the conversation was recorded without the pope’s knowledge and that other people besides Becciu were involved, Adnkronos quoted from the official letter.
Becciu has so far denied all allegations against himself. According to his own statement, his defense was not aware of the new allegations. The lawsuit is actually about a property purchase in London that went wrong between 2014 and 2018, with the Vatican losing a triple-digit million sum. Becciu was then a deputy in a high position in the powerful secretariat of state and had to answer for abuse of office.
(SDA)