VATICAN CITY – A once-powerful Catholic cardinal and nine others stand trial at the Vatican this week in an embezzlement scandal that allegedly saw charity funds used in a ruinous London property venture.
Ex-cardinal Angelo Becciu, who served as the equivalent of a papal chief of staff for Pope Francis before being fired last year, has been charged with crimes including embezzlement and abuse of office.
It is the first time a cardinal has been indicted by Vatican criminal prosecutors and Becciu, 73, will be the headliner of a trial set to last months.
The defendants face jail time or stiff fines if found guilty.
The alleged graft will have enraged Francis, 84, who has vowed all-out war on corruption and has increased oversight of the Vatican’s finances, dogged for decades by scandal.
Tuesday’s hearing is expected to be purely technical and the trial, held in a makeshift courtroom in the Vatican Museums, may be adjourned for after the summer break.
It was not clear whether Becciu, stripped of his red biretta, will be present.
It follows a two-year probe into how the Secretariat of State – the key department in the Vatican’s central administration – managed its vast asset portfolio and, in particular, who knew what about a disastrous €350 million (RM1.7 billion) London investment. – AFP, July 25, 2021
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