Giovanni Angelo Becciu resigns after London property investigation: “Money for his brother’s cooperative”

The communiqué from the Holy See arrived at eight o’clock yesterday night, three lines without explanation to announce something that has a very rare background in the history of the Church: “Today, Thursday, September 24, the Holy Father has accepted the resignation of the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the rights related to the Cardinal Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu“Becciu had a fate similar to that of Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien, on March 20, 2015: through a history of harassment and abuse of seminarians, Francis had” accepted “his” renouncement of the cardinal’s rights and prerogatives. ” : elect the pontiff in a conclave, “collaborate” with the Pope, etc. The title of a hollowed out cardinal. Why? In the Vatican there is talk of “embezzlement”, and of a dramatic confrontation between the cardinal and the Pope, yesterday afternoon: “I have always loved you, I respect you but I cannot do anything else.”

The Pope wants those responsible for the scandal in the Vatican (Massimo Franco, June 10, 2020)

Becciu blurts out a few words: “I’m shocked, disturbed. A blow to me, my family, the people of my country. I accepted out of obedience but I am innocent and I will prove it, I ask the Holy Father to have the right to defend me. Everything is related to the period, almost eight years from 2011 to 2018, during which Becciu was a substitute for the Secretary of State and managed the funds, including those reserved and the offering of San Pedro. Investigations by Vatican “promoter of justice” Gian Piero Milano and MP Alessandro Diddi began last year with the scandal at the 60 Sloane Avenue building in London. Among the suspects is also Monsignor Mauro Carlino, head of the Information and Documentation office, for years Becciu’s personal secretary. It is clear that in the course of the investigation sifted through the use of funds, not just for London. The situation has worsened because the investigation has been expanded. During the investigation, money came out of hedge funds and a story linked to a Sardinian cooperative involved in helping migrants, the Ozieri “Spes” chaired by Tonino Becciu, Angelo’s brother. The cardinal – according to his relatives – would have been contested for having taken 100,000 euros from the funds reserved to deliver them (but they have not yet arrived) to the cooperative that his brother presides over. It must be taken into account that Francis, from the beginning of his pontificate, had very harsh words against the “cancer” of corruption: “Sinners are better than corrupt.”