Until 2018, Cardinal Angelo Becciu was the Substitute for General Affairs at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. In plain English, he was at the apex of the Catholic Church’s bureaucratic hierarchy. From 2018 to 2020, he was head of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The body responsible for elevating deceased Catholic miracle workers to sainthood. Today, he is a convicted embezzler looking at a 5½-year prison sentence.
It is safe to say that the behavior of one of the Church’s senior managers has thrown cold water on the institution’s claim that it is a force for morality in a sinful world — if the global, long-term, institutional cover-up of child rape had not already shred that pretension.
At the center of the Cardinal’s scam was a building owned by Harrod’s department store on London’s tony Sloane Avenue. The BBC reported the details of the crimes of Becciu and nine others — including financiers, lawyers, and ex-Vatican employees, charged with various crimes, including fraud, money laundering, and abuse of office.
“In 2014, the Vatican spent more than €200m ($220m; £170m) acquiring a 45% stake in the building, which was planned to be converted into luxury apartments. By 2018, the Vatican's Secretariat of State had decided to buy the property outright, sinking a further €150m euros into the purchase. Allegedly signing off on the whole deal was Cardinal Becciu, who was at the time the Vatican's Substitute for General Affairs - in effect chief of staff to the Pope.
The money, part of which was intended to be used for charitable works, had been paid into a trust run by a London-based Italian financier Raffaele Mincione, who orchestrated the purchase. When the Secretariat later sought financial help from the Vatican's own bank, it sparked concern - and a raid by Vatican police that led to the charges against Becciu, Mincione, and eight others.”
The AP reported it thus:
“Prosecutors alleged Vatican monsignors and brokers fleeced the Holy See of tens of millions of euros in fees and commissions and then extorted the Holy See for 15 million euros to cede control of the building.”
The ensuing trial in a Vatican court lasted 2½ years. In contrast, the verdict and sentence came down in hours. The three judges found Becciu guilty of embezzling millions and gave him 5½ years for his criminality.
Becciu’s bad behavior was not limited to the London affair. Nor were financial crimes his only suspected mortal sins. As the BBC further reported:
“The cardinal was also accused of funnelling vast sums of money to his home diocese of Sardinia, some of which reportedly benefited his family. And it was alleged he paid almost €600,000 to another of the accused, Cecilia Marogna, to help free a nun kidnapped in Mali. Prosecutors said she instead spent much of the money on luxury goods and holidays.
Marogna, who had offered her services to the Vatican as an intelligence expert, visited Becciu's residence on several occasions. Both denied claims of a sexual relationship.”
Besides the fornication, Becciu is also denying that he is an embezzler — which means he may have to add lying to his list of sins. His lawyer, Fabio Viglione, says his client will appeal — no surprise there.
"We reaffirm Cardinal Angelo Becciu's innocence and will appeal. We respect the ruling, but we will definitely appeal."
Becciu himself seems like a whiny bastard. In 2020, after becoming the first Cardinal ever tried for financial crimes, Pope Francis stripped him of his rights, including this right to vote in a future conclave to select Francis's successor. (That had to hurt). In response, the criminal Cardinal moaned:
"Until 6:02 p.m. on Thursday, I felt like a friend of the Pope, a faithful executor of his will. Then the Pope says he no longer has faith in me."
Becciu fails to grasp that employees purloining company assets generally do not stay in the boss’s good graces. I also doubt that pocketing other people’s cash was something Francis was willing Becciu to do.
It is good that the Vatican did not try to cover up Becciu’s corruption. However, the Church’s relative openness is only due to Francis’ relative progressivism. Sadly, he is not getting any younger, and his health is failing. I would not be surprised if his successor was more like his predecessor — the arch-conservative and institutional apologist Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He was a circle-the-wagons enthusiast.
The future does not look promising. The Catholic Church is a cash-rich organization, shrouded in secrecy and convinced of its own morality. What could go wrong?
Note: Nothing in this diary should be taken to suggest there are not many good people who are religious. However, I bet they would be equally good without religion.