- Church Vatican Begins First Trial of Cardinal Angelo Becciu for Corruption
Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu was sentenced today to five years and six months in prison for a case of financial irregularities, the Vatican Tribunal announced, which also sentenced other defendants in this case.
Becciu, the 75-year-old first cardinal to be tried by a Vatican criminal tribunal, has also been sentenced to "perpetual" disqualification from holding office in the Holy See, the president of the court, Giuseppe Pignatone, said as he read the sentence.
The process investigated in the last two and a half years the purchase of a building in central London orchestrated by the Vatican Secretariat of State when Becciu was its substitute for General Affairs (2011-2018), a speculative operation that created a hole in the Holy See's accounts of at least 139 million euros.
It was the largest corruption trial in the history of the Holy See, with 10 defendants accused of buying property with money from donations.
The trial began in July 2021 in a room in the Vatican Museums, set up for the occasion. The court was presided over by former Italian anti-mafia judge Giuseppe Pignatone. The case has represented a challenge for Pope Francis, as it revealed the lack of control in the Vatican's finances, for which he had to initiate an internal reform, and in fact brings to light the dark privileges of several Vatican entities.
- the Vatican
- Pope Francis I