Convicted cardinal wants to vote for new Pope at conclave: brother prelates must decide

Cardinals at meetings before the start of the secret conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis are trying to decide whether a cardinal convicted of embezzlement and fraud can join the vote, Reuters reports, UNN writes.

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Their dilemma concerns Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who in December 2023 was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison. He was the highest-ranking Catholic Church official ever to stand trial in the Vatican criminal court.

Becciu denies all wrongdoing and is appealing the court's decision. The Italian cardinal, who is at large pending appeal, confirmed in a conversation with Reuters on Thursday evening that he believes he should be allowed to attend the conclave.

His complex legal position in church law stems from the night of September 24, 2020, when Francis summoned Becciu to his residence and immediately dismissed him as head of the Vatican department that decides who will be a saint, the cardinal said.

Francis directly accused the shocked Becciu of nepotism and embezzlement, saying: "I no longer trust you."

The Pope allowed Becciu to retain his ecclesiastical title and his apartment in the Vatican, but deprived him of what the Vatican called "rights associated with the cardinalate."

At the time, Becciu said this included losing the right to participate in a future conclave.

According to church law, cardinals under the age of 80 can enter the Sistine Chapel for a secret conclave, where they will cast their votes.

The conclave is not expected to begin until May 6.

Currently, about 135 cardinals can participate in it. On its website, the Vatican lists 76-year-old Becciu as a "non-elector," on par with those who have reached the age of 80.

Between the time of his dismissal and the end of the trial, Becciu held several meetings with the Pope, including at a Mass in the cardinal's personal chapel.

Becciu says his status has changed since that night in 2020, when the Pope punished him.

Becciu told L'Unione Sarda, the main newspaper on his native island of Sardinia, that the Vatican's list of cardinals not eligible to participate in the conclave "has no legal force," that there was no "explicit willingness" to remove him from participating in the conclave, and that he was never asked to formally waive this privilege in writing. In a conversation with Reuters near the Vatican on Thursday evening, Becciu confirmed the comments he made to the newspaper and added that he believes the Pope was close to making a decision on his status.

He told Reuters that he met with the Pope in January, before the pontiff was hospitalized in February, and quoted the pontiff as saying: "I think I have found a solution."

Becciu said he did not know whether the Pope had left any written instructions regarding his situation.

At briefings after the pope's death on Monday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni repeatedly declined to answer questions about the position on Becciu, suggesting that he might address the topic after Francis' funeral on Saturday.

Most cardinals arriving in the Vatican to participate in the General Congregations are said not to have spoken to journalists or declined to discuss the Becciu issue.

"The decisions will be made by my brother cardinals," Becciu told Reuters, referring to all of the approximately 250 prelates, including voters and non-voters, who will participate in the General Congregations before the conclave.

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