Skip to content

Pope Francis meets with Cardinal Becciu amid ongoing Vatican finance trial

Pope Francis met at the Vatican Thursday morning with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who is on trial for charges related to Vatican finances.

The meeting appeared on the top of Pope Francis’ list of official audiences for Feb. 9, published by the Vatican every day at noon Rome time.

The editors of the news aggregation website Il Sismografo called the official nature of the meeting “puzzling” given that the pope and the cardinal have been in contact other times since Becciu’s fall from grace in 2020.

Becciu served as “sostituto,” or second-ranking official at the Secretariat of State, from 2011 to 2018, when Pope Francis named him a cardinal and made him head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Since July 2021, Becciu has been on trial in the Vatican on several finance-related charges. The trial centers on the Secretariat of State’s purchase of a London building, a controversial investment that lost the Vatican hundreds of thousands of euros. It also marks the first time a cardinal has been tried by a Vatican court of lay judges.

The 74-year-old cardinal has also been accused of using Vatican funds to help a charity run by his brother, an allegation that made waves when it was published in a major Italian newspaper in September 2020.

According to Becciu, Pope Francis referenced the accusation when he asked him to give up his Vatican job and relinquish the rights and privileges of a cardinal on Sept. 24, 2020.

Since that day, the disgraced cardinal has insisted on his innocence of all the charges.

Pope Francis has also expressed a hope in Becciu’s innocence, saying in a September 2021 interview that Becciu “is a person for whom I have a certain esteem as a person, that is to say that my wish is that he turns out well … In any case, justice will decide.”

Five months prior, in April 2021, the pope had celebrated a private Mass in the chapel in Becciu’s apartment for Holy Thursday.

More recently, the cardinal participated in Pope Francis’ Aug. 27, 2022, public consistory to create new cardinals and an Aug. 29-30 meeting of cardinals.

They were the first consistories Becciu had participated in since stepping down in September 2020.

According to the cardinal, Pope Francis had called him on Aug. 20 “to tell me that I will be reinstated in my cardinal functions.”

Becciu took the stand for the first time in the Vatican finance trial on May 5, 2022.

He is charged with embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion, and abuse of office.

Receive the most important news from EWTN Vatican via WhatsApp. It has become increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channel today

Share

Would you like to receive the latest updates on the Pope and the Vatican

Receive articles and updates from our EWTN Newsletter.

More news related to this article

Pope Francis At Sunday Angelus Before Christmas: ‘No Child Is Ever A Mistake’

Pope Francis emphasized that “no child is ever a mistake” during his last Angelus address before Christmas Day.

Vatican Could Be Close to Decision in Rupnik Case, Report Says

A media report says the Vatican’s doctrine office could be close to a decision in the case of the ex-Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik.

The Synod on Synodality this Week: Anticipating a ‘Letter to the People of God’

As the Synod on Synodality in Rome launches into its final week with a changed calendar, all eyes are on the anticipated Letter to the People of God, expected on Saturday evening.

Cardinal explains how African rejection of Fiducia Supplicans was handled

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besengu, OFM Cap, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM),

The Basilica of Saint Mary Major: A Living Reliquary of Faith, Art, and History

Discover the spiritual and artistic heritage of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, home to the revered Salus Populi Romani and a testament to centuries of Christian devotion

John Paul II Award at the Vatican

The Vatican John Paul II Foundation honors the Justice and Peace Center in Kampala, Uganda, with the inaugural John Paul II Award.

LIVE
FROM THE VATICAN

Be present live on EWTNit