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A cardinal who was sentenced to five and a half years in prison after being convicted of embezzlement said Tuesday he intends to participate in the next conclave — the election to pick Pope Francis’ successor — even though the Holy See press office has declared him a “non-elector.”
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who became the first cardinal to ever be prosecuted by the Vatican’s criminal court in December 2023, has appealed the conviction, denying wrongdoing. Becciu can still live in a Vatican apartment while his appeal is pending, according to CNN.
While the press office of the Holy See designated Becciu as a “non-elector,” Becciu is demanding that he take part in the conclave.
“The Pope recognized my cardinal’s prerogatives as being intact as there was no explicit wish to exclude me from the conclave, nor a request for an explicit written renunciation on my part,” Becciu told Sardinian newspaper L’Unione Sarda, according to a translation by the Times of London.
Becciu was convicted of embezzlement over a London real estate investment and for funneling money to a charity led by his brother and using the Vatican’s funds to pay an intelligence analyst.
In September 2020, Pope Francis reportedly demanded the resignation of Becciu, who at the time headed the Vatican’s saint making office, over his role in the scandal, demanding that he give up his rights and privileges as a cardinal. Still, Becciu retained the title of cardinal. Previously, Becciu also served as the No. 2 in the Vatican’s secretariat of state.
CNN reports that Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Pietro Parolin will be the ones to ultimately decide whether Becciu will participate in the upcoming conclave.
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Experts told the Times the Vatican is in a tough spot, as excluding Becciu could potentially give him grounds to contest the election, while allowing him to participate when he shouldn’t could allow some to claim the conclave was tainted.
Pope Francis died Monday at age 88 due to a stroke that led to a coma and “irreversible heart failure,” the Vatican said. His funeral and burial are set to take place Saturday; several world leaders, including President Donald Trump, are scheduled to travel to Rome to attend the ceremony.
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