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The colossal economic scandal that culminated two weeks ago with the resignation imposed by Pope Bergoglio on Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, 72, a native of Pattada (Sassari), prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, a very complex story, in which financial speculation and Vatican intrigues they are inextricably mixed. also the history of a long-standing trusting relationship between the Pope and the now-former cardinal, a long-time diplomat, which has eroded over time. So let’s try outlining its contours, fixing a few key points and analyzing its perspectives.
1. The career of diplomat and the role in the Secretary of State
The starting point is the fact that Becciu from 2011 (appointed by Benedict XVI, confirmed in 2013 by Francis) until 2018, has played the delicate role of Deputy General Affairs of the Secretary of State, in practice. the number 3. The then Monsignor Becciu had become the Pope’s closest friend, who in 2017 had put him to the test as a special delegate to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to resolve the crisis in the Order. In fact, Francis had already appreciated his gifts immediately after his election to the throne of Peter. And he was the man who could manage the funds of the Secretary of State, including those of the Pennies of Saint Peter, which is the money that the faithful around the world collect specifically for the needs of the Church and, in particular, for charitable works in favor of those most in need.
2. The appointment as cardinal and the daily dialogue with the Pope
Day after day Becciu had become one of the Pope’s most trusted collaborators, the prelate that Francis could always count on, not just for the economic affairs of the Vatican. The Pontiff compares himself to him every day as she considered him not only her most trusted advisor but also a sincere friend. Precisely because he estimated him, on May 20, 2018 he had created him a cardinal and on May 28 he wanted to entrust him with the position of prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Becciu remained as substitute for general affairs of the Secretary of State until June 29, thus maintaining power over the funds of the Secretary of State.
3. The London affair, favors to the brothers and Angolan oil
The friendship between the Pope and Cardinal Becciu began to break down when the Vatican’s judiciary began investigating the 2014 purchase of a London building at 80 Sloane Avenue, a former Harrods warehouse from 1911, for three hundred million. euros compared to a much lower value of the property. Investigations into that investment came to light lateral movements also in the box of the General Affairs section of the Secretary of State, which also manages, among other things, the money from the San Pedro Pennies and which is estimated at some seven hundred million euros. Funds also emerged that, according to investigators, Angelo Becciu had in various ways sent to his own members of the family, the brothers Tonino, Mario and Francesco, since 2013. In particular, according to the researchers, Becciu had given 100,000 euros to the Spes Cooperative, the operational arm of Caritas in Ozieri, in the province of Sassari, in Sardinia, and directed by his brother Tonino who, according to rumors, had already been benefited by the high prelate of hundreds of thousands of euros for modernize an oven and expand your business. The researchers then challenge the cardinal to agree to place the Caritas Roma emblem on top. Pollicino craft beer bottles produced by the Ángel company, whose brother Mario is the director, in exchange for donations to Caritas of 5 percent of the turnover, which would have allowed the company significant tax benefits. And also have commissioned the other brother Francesco works of carpentry, doors and windows, when he was apostolic nuncio in Angola and Cuba, all the accusations will have to be proved. The truth is that when the Pope was informed of all this, his trust in the one he believed was the most sincere friend collapsed.
4. The networks of bankers and businessmen around Becciu
To make matters worse were journalistic investigations, including those of Messenger Service – which was brought to light by the conglomerate of financial advisers and managers belonging to Becciu system, a troop led by Enrico Crasso, ex-financier of Credit Suisse, finance manager of the Secretary of State by cardinal will; as well as Alessandro Noceti, also a former Credit Suisse then at Valeur, who would have brought another controversial financier, Raffaele Mincione, to the Vatican. This parallel structure had the closest collaborators of Cardinal Becciu: Fabrizio Tirabassi, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca and Vincenzo Mauriello. London was chosen for the largest investments after the failure of an Angolan oil-related deal, conceived with businessman Antonio Mosquito, which had caught the attention of the Portuguese Judiciary, which had been investigating the flow of money managed by him and Isabel Dos Santos, daughter of the former Angolan president. In the Becciu system consulting and benefits they were all bankrupt: the funds, delivered as consultancy by the Secretary of State, passed through intermediary companies on duty and were shared with friendly financiers, who made them flow to investment funds. The fund that leads to the purchase of the Sloane Avenue Building is born with the same approach: only in that case something goes wrong, because the fund’s net asset value begins to decrease and becomes a drain pump that absorbs money, producing an abyss in the accounts, also because the millionaire consultancy is paid equally. In short, the London building is just the latest investment, which ended badly, which blew up a broken mechanism.
5. The denunciations of Cardinal Pell
A network that had had a first communicator: the cardinal George Pell, the first to identify the shameless use of methods prohibited by the new guidelines desired by Bergoglio. His return to Rome, after the acquittal of the pedophile accusations, creates tension in the Becciu system, who will also be accused of having sent reserved funds to some of Pell’s accusers. That something was wrong in the management Becciu had also noticed some time before. Francesco De Pasquale, former director of the Financial Authority with a long career (32 years) at the Bank of Italy. From the three years and four months of IDA, I remember the difficulty of interacting with the Secretary of State. I had the impression that the then Deputy Angelo Becciu, and also the Secretary for Relations with the States Dominique Mamberti hinder our transparency work. When they realized that the initial law gave IDA broad powers of control over them as well, they decided to entrust it to other people. We were not trustworthy to them in the sense that we were not willing to obey them, he said. Republic. De Pasquale added significantly: I wonder how it is possible that the Secretary of State has been entrusted to repairmen that outside the Vatican they would never have been taken into consideration, so they did not know the bad reputation of these people.
6. The Cardinal’s Lady and the funds for Slovenian society
To compound Becciu’s position, the story of the Vatican super-consultant Cecilia Marogna, 39, whom Becciu had remedied through Monsignor Perlasca. 500 thousand euros for unspecified diplomatic missions in Africa, to avoid the risk of attacks on Nunciatures and Missions. The money flowed to the Unicredit accounts of a Slovenian company whose activity seems at least opaque.
7. The reform of the Vatican finances desired by the Pope
The Pope, tired of these situations, has for some time begun a complex reform, already underway, which recent events only seem to accelerate. This includes the decision to pass, with the logic of reducing pressure on individual power centers, the entire global management of the Vatican’s finances through the Apsa (Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See), currently chaired by Monsignor. Nunzio Galantino; but also the appointment, at the end of last year, of the Jesuit economist Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, as prefect of the Ministry of Economy of the Holy See; as well as the updating of the Vatican legislation on financial transparency, the last stage of which is motu proprio on the issue of the June 2020 tenders. The past and present scandals have therefore provoked a harsh reaction on the part of Pope Francis, who wants to protect his idea of a poor Church, which inevitably implies resistance from some of the curial hierarchies.
8. The reflections of the Becciu affair on the future conclave
Bergoglio’s decision to deprive Becciu also of the rights related to the cardinal, thus preventing him from vote in the next conclave, it has far-reaching consequences. It is evident, in fact, that Becciu would have played a fundamental role in the Sistine Chapel between the two main and current Italian contenders for the succession of Bergoglio. On the one hand, the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin and on the other the cardinal archbishop of Bologna, Matteo Maria Zuppi , raised in the Community of Sant’Egidio. Surely Becciu, who had transformed himself from friend to enemy of Francisco, will not be able to represent the alignment of the unhappy with Francis Among whom are three nostalgic curial cardinals: Gerhard Ludwig Mller Raymond Leo Burke and Robert Sarah. To them we can also add Angelo Comastri, police station and under investigation in the investigation of the contracts of the Fabbrica di San Pietro; and Fernando Filoni, Becciu’s predecessor in the Secretary of State, whom the Pope prematurely dismissed as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
October 7, 2020 (change October 7, 2020 | 14:46)
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