A Vatican criminal court convicted an Italian cardinal once considered a papal rival of corruption and sentenced him to more than five years in prison in what the Holy See called the “trial of the century”.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu, 75, is the first cardinal in history to be indicted by a Vatican criminal court.
The powerful cardinal was acquitted of several other charges, while nine other defendants, including former Vatican employees, financiers and lawyers, received a combination of guilty verdicts and acquittals in a trial that lasted more than two years.
Becciu, the Holy See’s former secretary of state, was forced to resign last year over suspicions he funneled Vatican cash to businesses and charities headed by his brothers.
He also oversaw a multi-million Euro investment in a $380 million luxury property in London that was at the center of the trial.
Prosecutors accused the defendant of defrauding the Holy See and then extorting 15 million euros from the Vatican to gain control of the property.
The Vatican lost $100 million euros, about $110 million, on real estate transactions alone.
A Vatican judge read the verdict in the historic trial of Cardinal Angelo Becciu on Saturday. VATICAN MEDIA/AFP via Getty Images Judge Giuseppe Pignatone read the verdict at the end of the Vatican trial of Cardinal Angelo Becciu and nine other defendants Saturday. via REUTERS Judge Giuseppe Pignatone read the verdict Saturday in a Vatican courtroom. High-ranking Cardinal Angelo Becciu was convicted of embezzling millions of Euros and sentenced to five years and six months in prison. via REUTERS
A lawyer for Becciu said he would appeal the conviction.
In addition to the five-year-six-month sentence, Becciu was fined nearly $9,000, according to reports.
The trial, which begins in July 2021, shines a light on the Vatican’s finances, which Pope Francis has been trying to clean up since taking over the church in 2013.
Weeks before the trial, Francis authorized a Vatican court to try cardinals and bishops who had previously been tried by tribunals made up of their peers.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
