ROME — In his first major media engagement since being convicted of financial crimes by a Vatican tribunal and sentenced to five and a half years in prison, Cardinal Angelo Becciu appeared on an Italian TV show proclaiming his innocence.
“I’m going to do everything I can, everything to demonstrate my innocence through the legal system and in every way possible,” Becciu said, appearing 18 December on the program <em>Cinque Minuti </em>(“Five Minutes”), hosted by Bruno Vespa, one of Italy's most renowned television journalists.
“I want to shout to the world that I’m innocent,” Becciu said. “I absolutely did not commit any of the crimes of which I’ve been accused.”
Discussing the complex London property deal at the heart of the recent Vatican trial, Becciu appeared to suggest that primary responsibility rested with Italian Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, who headed an administrative office within the Secretariat of State that oversaw the London operation but who escaped indictment by becoming a witness for the prosecution instead.
“I wasn’t the one who made the decision," Becciu said. "As substitute, do you know how many offices I had to follow? There are 17. I didn’t have the time to follow economic and financial matters step by step.
“A memo is prepared, a dossier, and it goes to the head of the office, who is really the one responsible for administration. At the time, it was Monsignor Perlasca.
“It was my technical experts who told me it was possible to do it, that it would produce a great advantage for the Holy See. They didn’t present any great risks.”
Becciu was <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/becciu-guilty-sentenced-to-five-and-a-half-years-imprisonment-by-vatican-court/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">convicted</mark></a> along with eight of the nine other defendants in the case centring on the $400 million (£315 million) purchase of a building in London that unfolded from 2014 to 2018. It marked the first time a cardinal has ever been tried, let alone convicted, by a Vatican court composed exclusively of lay judges and prosecutors.
The 75-year-old prelate was also found guilty of unrelated charges arising from two other cases, one involving transfers of roughly $125,000 (£100,000) to a Catholic charity in Sardinia led by his brother and another involving payments of $600,000 (£470,000) to a self-described security consultant for the liberation of a kidnapped nun, some of which, according to prosecutors, was used by the consultant to purchase luxury goods for herself.
Throughout the <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/vatican-trial-raises-the-question-is-pope-francis-great-reformer-or-great-restorer/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">judicial process that has not been without criticism</mark></a>, Becciu has maintained his innocence, and his attorneys have announced plans to appeal the convictions.
In his comments to Vespa, Becciu defended the concept of the London deal, if not its execution.
“This is within the tradition of the Holy See,” he said. “Since 1929, after the Lateran Pacts, it began to invest in real estate, in London, Paris, Rome. It’s a tradition the Holy See had.”
Noting that the London deal unfolded in several stages, Becciu appeared to minimize his own role: “I was present only for the initial investment. When the other operations happened, I wasn’t there anymore."
As for the transfers to the charity in Sardinia, Becciu said they occurred at the request of the local bishop, not on his own initiative, and that most of the money is still in the account of the diocesan branch of Caritas.
With regard to the security consultant, Cecilia Marogna, Becciu denied knowing that she spent any of the money set aside for the nun’s ransom on herself.
“I absolutely didn’t know this,” he said. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have permitted it.”
Asked if he thinks Pope Francis believes him to be innocent, Becciu said: “I believe so, and I hope so.”
Today marks the deadline for defendants convicted by the Vatican tribunal to file a notice of their intent to appeal. Those appeals presumably will be heard by the Court of Appeals for the Vatican City State, which is made up of six judges, three clerics and three laity.<br><br><em>Photo: As a newly elevated cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu attends a reception, following a consistory for the creation of new cardinals, in the Apostolic Palace at St Peter's Basilica in Vatican, 28 June 2018. (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP) (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images.)</em>
