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VATICAN CITY. Two Thursdays after the “shock” hearing that destabilized the foundations of the Sacred Palaces, the protagonists met again. Yesterday Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who now only has the title of cardinal, would have crossed the threshold of Casa Santa Marta for a confidential conversation with Pope Francis. Vatican sources report this.
After an unprecedented press conference in the history of the Church, the one called by Becciu, airing the possibility that the Pontiff could have been “manipulated”, after suspicions, revelations and poisons about the management of the “cash” of the Secretary of State and on the purchase of the London palace, the main theme of the first face to face after the “earthquake” of September 24 would have been the future of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, of which the Cardinal of Pattada is papal delegate. The religious-chivalric order founded in Jerusalem in the 11th century has 13,500 members spread throughout the world, about a thousand hospitals and missions, a budget close to two billion. The Knights of Malta were “curated” in 2017, following the crisis that culminated in the resignation of Grand Master Matthew Festing. Clashes erupted in December 2016, when Festing dismissed the German Grand Chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, on the rejected charge of consenting to the distribution of condoms in Myanmar. Bergoglio decided on a reform of the Knights, and sent the then substitute for General Affairs, Becciu, to lead the transition phase, which will have a decisive stage in November, with the election of the new Grand Master or alternatively a “lieutenant of the Grand Professor “. In any case, “in all probability Becciu will also leave this post,” says a monsignor.
“After that press conference, Becciu with the Pope had a very humble attitude,” says another prelate. And Francesco “noticed” it, confirming his desire not to get angry “by leaving him the apartment and the salary. He did not want to make an inhuman decision.” But at the same time the Pope does not slow down his acceleration to delve into the financial matters involving Becciu and other Vatican officials, pending the process that Oltretevere is preparing.
And while the defenestrated cardinal reiterates his strangeness to the crimes attributed to him, an investment in Hertz derivatives also appears. The Vatican reportedly invested endowment funds in derivatives that gamble on the solvency of the American car rental company that defaulted this year. The Financial Times writes, stating that in 2015 part of a Vatican portfolio of 528 million euros, “derived from donations”, bought CDs at Hertz, betting that the company would not default and would repay its debts. The car rental company went bankrupt.
Meanwhile, the Pope, meeting yesterday with the Moneyval inspectors, recalled that “Jesus threw the merchants out of the temple and taught that God and wealth cannot be served.”
