This week, Cardinal Angelo Becciu’s potential restoration of his cardinal powers gained attention when the former official announced he would be attending upcoming consistories, or cardinal meetings, allegedly at Pope Francis’ invitation.
Prior to being investigated for financial impropriety and accused with crimes like embezzlement, fraud, and extortion, the 74-year-old cardinal from the Italian island territory of Sardinia was one of the most influential men in the Vatican.
Becciu has defended his innocence and the motivations for his acts for more than a year in court.
Here is a summary of Cardinal Becciu’s recent flips and turns throughout the past few years:
1. Loss of favour
Before Pope Francis made him a cardinal and appointed him the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Becciu worked as a “sostituto,” or second-ranking official, at the Secretariat of State from 2011 to 2018.
Media reports began to associate Becciu with financial issues at the Vatican when he was serving at the saints’ congregation, charging him with “embezzlement” from his tenure at the Secretariat of State. The Vatican was also looking into Becciu.
On the evening of September 24, 2020, the Vatican released a statement informing the public that Pope Francis had accepted Becciu’s resignation from his position at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and, in a very unusual step, also from the privileges accorded to members of the College of Cardinals.
Cardinal Becciu refuted the allegations at a news conference the next day and stated that his resignation came after a brief conversation with Pope Francis, who urged him to give up the “privileges” of a cardinal.
On September 25, 2020, Becciu told reporters, “I felt I was a friend of the pope, a faithful agent of the pope, and then there, speaking, he tells me that he no longer trusts me.
(2) Following the resignation
The Vatican never explicitly stated the privileges Becciu had forfeited, in contrast to past instances where cardinals had done so.
On the other hand, Becciu stopped going to public ecclesiastical gatherings with the other cardinals.
Some believed Pope Francis’ invitation to Cardinal Becciu to attend Holy Thursday Mass with him in the chapel of Becciu’s private apartment in April 2021 was a sign that the cardinal would have his privileges restored.
However, after the visit, sources close to the Vatican claimed that it was a pastoral visit and not a reinstatement.
3. Becciu visits a courtroom
After a two-year investigation, Vatican prosecutors officially filed charges against Becciu and nine other suspects in the so-called Vatican “trial of the century” in the summer of 2021.
The cardinal has been on trial since July 27, 2021, facing allegations of embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion, and abuse of position.
It is the first time a cardinal has been tried in a Vatican court by lay judges.
Pope Francis modified Vatican law in early 2021 to permit cardinals to be tried by the court of the city state rather than just by a special tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
The pope expressed his “with all my heart” hope that Cardinal Becciu is found innocent to Spanish broadcaster COPE a little more than a month after the trial began.
In addition, he worked with me and was a big assistance. I have a certain amount of respect for him as a person, so I hope everything works out well,” Francis stated.
The cardinal has repeatedly maintained his innocence.
4. Taking part in championships?
Following a phone call from Pope Francis this week, Cardinal Becciu announced that he would take part in both the ordinary consistory to ordain new cardinals on August 27 and the extraordinary consistory of cardinals taking place August 29–30.
On August 21, Becciu made the announcement during a private Mass held in Golfo Aranci, Sardinia, where he was on vacation.
It appears that Becciu’s cardinal privileges may be being reinstated. Becciu has not taken part in a consistory since he resigned on September 24, 2020.
As stated in canons 349, 353, and 356 of the Church’s Code of Canon Law, participating in consistories is one of a cardinal’s privileges and prerogatives.
The rights outlined in Canon 349 include helping the current pope with his or her daily duties as the head of the worldwide Church and taking part in the election of popes as cardinal electors.
Canon 356 stipulates that cardinals are required to actively interact with the pope and must reside in Rome unless they occupy the rank of a diocesan bishop. Canon 353 covers a cardinal’s authority to participate in both ordinary and extraordinary consistories.