Pope Francis withdraws Becciu: he will remain a cardinal but without further rights. He had ended up investigating the luxury mansion in London

A bolt of blue strikes the Vatican. “Today, Thursday, September 24, – read a newsletter from the Press room of the Holy See – The Holy Father has accepted the resignation of the post of prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the rights linked to the cardinal, presented by His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu ”. A decision that left mystified Roman Curia also because, up to the time of its publication, nothing had leaked from the holy palaces that heralded a such a tough measure Not even the interested party imagined such a stormy epilogue within hours of the decision to Bergoglio. “I prefer silence” is the only comment that Becciu makes to the media at the end of what is defined as “a shocked audience” with Father Francesco. Those who have heard him, immediately after the publication of the acceptance of his resignation by Bergoglio, describe a man deeply saddened by the disconcerting epilogue of the story that saw him as the protagonist. What you learn ilfattoquotidiano.it, Becciu still cardinal, ma no related rights to the office. OR can no longer enter in a possible conclave and choose the Pope, nor be member of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia. As happens to cardinals who have turned 80 and automatically lose the right to vote for the new Pope and lose their posts in the Vatican.

Becciu had ended up in the crosshairs of the investigation intoluxury property bought from Holy See a London, for a value of more than 200 million euros, when he was a substitute for Secretary of state, or “Minister of interior“Vatican. The cardinal has always defended himself by rejecting all accusations and reiterating that not a penny of theSaint Peter Pennies had been used for the purchase of the property and that the building was “highly appreciated after Brexit”, Claiming it was a good investment for the Vatican. Finally, he had repeatedly reiterated that he was not has never been investigated by the magistrates of the Holy See and always be authorized to proceed by their superiors. Clear reference to Father and the cardinal Secretary of state, Pietro Parolin. In the investigation they are first suspended and then five Vatican officials fired including the former director ofFinancial Information Authority of the Holy See, Tommaso Di Ruzzaand monsignor Mauro Carlino, who had recently been appointed by Francesco as head of the information and documentation office of the Secretary of State, but who had previously been Becciu’s secretary when the latter was substitute.

A provision similar to the one adopted by Bergoglio against Becciu dates from 2015 and was taken by the Pontiff himself against Keith Michael Patrick O’Brien, the “cardinal abuser”. In that case, Bergoglio accepted “the waiver of the cardinal’s rights and prerogatives presented at the end of Cardinal O’Brien’s long itinerary of prayer.” On the other hand, the measure against was different and much harsher Theodore McCarrick to which the Pope first removed his cardinal status and then reduced him to the lay state for his very serious crimes of pedophilia. Before Bergoglio, the last pontiff to remove the purple from a cardinal had been Pius XI. Father RatsIn 1927, he removed his red cap a Louis Billot that he had publicly solidarity with a French magazine already the theme of a censorship by the Bishop of Rome. But in that case the pontifical disposition was dictated by political reasons.

Becciu has always been considered a very close and faithful man a Father Francesco. When the then Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected Peter’s 266th successor, on March 13, 2013, found right Becciu, then replaces the Secretary of State, which main contributor. An idyll that was sealed by the purple that Francis wanted to confer on Becciu on June 28, 2018, confidentially anticipating this decision a few days before and naming him prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Previously, the Pope had also appointed Becciu as a special delegate to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta after the real thing coup launched by vertices of this ancestral organism.

Born in Pattada, in the province of Sassari, on June 2, 1948, Becciu was ordained a priest on August 27, 1972 and incardinated in the Diocese of Ozieri. After graduating in canon law, he entered the Diplomatic service of the Holy See on May 1, 1984 and later worked in the pontifical representations in Republic Central African, Sudan, New Zealand, Liberia, Great Brittany, France me U.S of America. October 15, 2001 Saint John Paul II appointed him apostolic nuncio in Angola. On November 15 of the same year Wojtyla also appointed him Apostolic Nuncio in San Tome and Principe. On December 1, 2001, he was ordained Archbishop by the then Cardinal Secretary of State, Angelo Sodano. July 23, 2009 Benedict XVI appointed him apostolic nuncio to Cuba. On May 10, 2011, Ratzinger always chose him as a surrogate for general affairs for the Secretary of State. On June 15 of the same year, he was also appointed a consultant to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Once he received Bergoglio’s red cap, the Pope also appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Twitter: @FrancescoGrana