Cardinal Angelo Becciu confirms that he believes he should be admitted to the Conclave. The Sardinian cardinal, former Substitute of the Secretariat of State and former Prefect for the Causes of Saints – who in a dramatic audience on September 24, 2020, Pope Francis stripped of his Curial office and cardinal rights – states in a conversation with Reuters that his role has changed since that evening over four and a half years ago when the Pontiff degraded him because he felt betrayed in his trust.
In addition to confirming what he has already stated to Unione Sarda – that his prerogatives are “intact,” that there was “no explicit will” to exclude him from the Conclave, and that he was never asked to renounce the privilege in writing – Becciu adds that Pope Bergoglio was close to making a decision on his status.
He says that he met the Pontiff in January, before being hospitalized at Gemelli in February, and quotes his words: “I think I have found a solution,” Francis reportedly told him. Becciu also states that he does not know if the Pope left him written instructions on this matter. “My fellow cardinals will decide,” he concludes, awaiting the discussion in the pre-Conclave congregations of the College of Cardinals, which have already begun and to which he himself has been invited. The Becciu issue, which risks severely influencing the upcoming Conclave and beyond, is becoming increasingly complicated.
Furthermore, in the coming autumn – with the first hearing on September 22 – the appeal trial on the management of the Secretariat of State’s funds and the purchase of the London building will begin, for which Becciu has always proclaimed his innocence but was sentenced in the first instance to five years and six months of imprisonment and perpetual interdiction from public office for embezzlement and aggravated fraud against the Holy See. Meanwhile, two letters written by the Pope have emerged, which would confirm Becciu’s exclusion from voting for the new Pontiff.
The newspaper Domani reports that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, former Secretary of State, showed Becciu two typed and signed letters from the Pontiff with the letter F that would exclude him from entering the Sistine Chapel: one from 2023 and the other from last March, when Francis was facing his last, very serious illness. The Sardinian cardinal is said to have taken note, but at the moment there is no indication that he has renounced his intention.
According to reconstructions by the former director of L’Osservatore Romano, Giovanni Maria Vian, Cardinal Dean Giovanni Battista Re, who will conduct Pope Francis’ funeral tomorrow, reportedly told Becciu that he was in favor of his entry into the Conclave, as there were no written contrary provisions from the deceased Pontiff. However, when reporting this to Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Joseph Farrell, the latter allegedly communicated to Re the will of Pope Bergoglio, expressed to him only verbally some time ago, that Becciu be kept out. From leaks from the first general congregations, to unravel the Becciu case which is becoming a true ‘mystery,’ a commission may be formed, composed of five cardinals including the Sardinian cardinal himself.
According to Il Fatto Quotidiano, this is the proposal put forward by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, former Prefect for the Oriental Churches and considered very close to Cardinal Parolin. Gugerotti, for his part, is said to have expressed an opinion against Becciu’s entry into the Sistine Chapel. Another close ally of Bergoglio, Cardinal Almoner Konrad Krajewski, has reportedly done the same. There are no official comments on the matter. When asked by journalists, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni continues to repeat that “for now, let’s focus on the Pope’s funeral. The Conclave will be discussed later.”
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