VATICAN (CNS): In an unprecedented move, Vatican prosecutor s indicted 10 individuals and entities, including Angelo Cardinal Becciu, former prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, on charges ranging from embezzlement to money laundering and abuse of office.
The indictment included charges against “ecclesiastical and lay personnel of the Secretariat of State and senior figures of the former Financial Information Authority, as well as external figures active in the world of international finance,” the Vatican said on July 3.
Their trial at the Vatican was set to begin July 27.
In a statement released by his lawyers shortly after the announcement, Cardinal Becciu declared his “absolute innocence,” saying he was “the victim of a plot hatched against me.” He said the accusations exposed him to “an unparalleled media pillory to which I did not defend myself, suffering in silence.” However, in November 2020, he filed a lawsuit against the Italian magazine L’Espresso, claiming their reporting resulted in him losing his chance at becoming pope.
“Only by considering this great injustice as a test of faith can I find the strength to fight this battle for truth,” the cardinal said, adding, “Finally, the moment of clarification is coming, and the court will be able to find the absolute falsity of the accusations against me and the dark plots that have evidently sustained and fed them.”
The investigation, which spanned several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain, the British island of Jersey, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Switzerland, “brought to light a vast network of relationships with financial market operators that have generated substantial losses for the Vatican finances, also drawing from resources destined for the personal charitable works of the Holy Father,” the indictment stated.
In April, the pope updated the laws governing the Vatican’s civil judicial system, stating that cardinals and bishops accused of a crime could be tried in a Vatican court, which, as it turned out, paved the way for the indictment against Cardinal Becciu (Sunday Examiner, May 30 and June 6).
The new law requires the pope’s approval before a cardinal can be indicted, approval Pope Francis gave for charging Cardinal Becciu.
The charges stem from a Vatican investigation into how the Secretariat of State used US$200 million ($1.5 billion) to finance a property development project in London’s posh Chelsea district and incurred millions of dollars in debt.
Cardinal Becciu was forced to offer his resignation to the pope in September, after he was accused of embezzling an estimated €100,000 ($920,800) of Vatican funds and redirecting them to Spes, a Caritas organisation run by his brother, Tonino Becciu, in his home Diocese of Ozieri, Sardinia (Sunday Examiner, 4 October 2020).
The investigation, which spanned several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain, the British island of Jersey, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Switzerland, “brought to light a vast network of relationships with financial market operators that have generated substantial losses for the Vatican finances, also drawing from resources destined for the personal charitable works of the Holy Father,” the indictment stated.
Cardinal Becciu was forced to offer his resignation to the pope in September, after he was accused of embezzling an estimated €100,000 ($920,800) of Vatican funds and redirecting them to Spes, a Caritas organisation run by his brother, Tonino Becciu, in his home Diocese of Ozieri, Sardinia (Sunday Examiner, 4 October 2020).
Among the former Vatican officials included in the indictment are René Brülhart and Tommaso di Ruzza, former president and former director of the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency, now known as the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority.
Brülhart was accused of abuse of office, while di Ruzza was accused of embezzlement, abuse of office and violation of the secret of the office.
Also included in the indictment were: Monsignor Mauro Carlino, the former secretary of then-Archbishop Becciu when he served as sostituto, the number three position in the Vatican Secretariat of State, who is accused of extortion and abuse of office; and Fabrizio Tirabassi, a former official at the Secretariat of State accused of corruption, extortion, embezzlement, fraud and abuse of office.
Cecilia Marogna, an Italian political analyst who allegedly was hired as a consultant by Cardinal Becciu, was also indicted on charges of embezzling money through a humanitarian organisation she ran in Slovenia. The organisation, Logsic Humanitarne Dejavnosti, was also included in the indictment.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in October, Marogna claimed she was secretly hired by Cardinal Becciu, unbeknownst to the Vatican and the Secretariat of State, as a diplomatic back channel and that the money sent to her organisation was used for humanitarian missions, including the paying of ransoms for kidnapped missionaries.
