Angelo Becciu fue el primer cardenal juzgado y condenado por un tribunal penal del Vaticano por estafa y malversación. Entre sus delitos se encuentra el pago de sobreprecios en la compra de un edificio de lujo en Londres en 2014, donaciones que terminaron en mano de su familia y sobre todo el desvío del dinero del rescate de una monja colombiana que estaba en manos de Al-Qaeda.

Tras amenazar con hacer valer sus derechos como cardenal, Becciu cedió a la presión de sus pares y renunció a participar en el cónclave que comenzará el 7 de mayo para elegir el sucesor del papa Francisco.

Leé también: La carta de Becciu, el cardenal condenado por corrupción y cuestionado por Francisco que renunció al cónclave

Según medios italianos, el cardenal tomó esta decisión tras ver dos cartas que dejó el papa argentino “que aprobaba la decisión de no dejarlo entrar en el cónclave”.

Por qué fue condenado el cardenal Angelo Becciu

El derrotero de Becciu comenzó en 2020. Una poco clara operación inmobiliaria en Londres lo puso en la mira de la justicia.

El caso estalló con la compra de un edificio en una antigua sede de las galerías Harrods, en el exclusivo barrio londinense de Chelsea, una operación especulativa que creó un agujero en las cuentas de la Santa Sede de al menos 139 millones de euros.

Además, durante el proceso surgieron otros delitos financieros cometidos presuntamente por Becciu como las donaciones de 125.000 euros que el cardenal ingresó en la cuenta de una asociación, vinculada a la Cáritas sarda de Ozieri, que en ese momento presidía uno de sus hermanos.

Leé también: Alfajores, muzza con fainá y “salsa caliente”: los favoritos del Papa y su mandamiento sobre la comida

En ese entonces, Becciu era prefecto de la Congregación para las Causas de los Santos. Francisco le soltó la mano. Lo obligó a renunciar y le quitó sus privilegios. Finalmente fue condenado a cinco años y seis meses de prisión por delitos financieros.

Sin embargo, uno de los temas que más revuelo causó fue el desvío de un rescate de más de millón de euros que estaba destinado a la liberación de la monja colombiana Gloria Cecilia Narváez, raptada por Al-Qaeda en Mali en el año 2017.

Según se descubrió, 570.000 euros fueron a parar a una sociedad eslovena controlada por una asesora de Becciu, Cecilia Marogna, supuesta experta en seguridad y relaciones internacionales. El resto del dinero, la mujer se lo gastó en hoteles de lujo, viajes, ropa bolsos, perfumes y otras opulencias.

Qué dijo la exasesora de Becciu

En su defensa, Marogna sostuvo que en una entrevista con el diario Corriere della Sera que ofreció en 2015 a Becciu crear una “red diplomacia paralela en los países del norte de África y Oriente Medio”.

“Yo sabía qué hacer y cómo moverme, también para reducir los peligros para las nunciaturas derivados las células terroristas presentes en esos países”, explicó.

Respecto a que muchos de esos fondos se gastaron en artículos de lujo, la mujer lo justificó alegando que: “Quizás el bolso era para la esposa de un amigo nigeriano que pudo hablar con el presidente de Burkina Faso para vigilar los riesgos y peligros de las nunciaturas del Vaticano”.

“Con ese dinero hice el trabajo que me pidieron: entablar relaciones y contactos en países difíciles. Hice informes y análisis, siempre y cuando fuera pagado. No soy un estafadora”, dijo también al diario Domani.

Sin embargo, durante la investigación, se descubrió que Marogna no era ninguna experta en seguridad: su currículum era completamente inventado.

“En torno a esto hay muchas sospechas, pero es seguro que no había ninguna relación carnal entre Becciu y Marogna. Simplemente, ella es una mujer muy lista por la que se deja llevar», contó al diario El Mundo una fuente cercana a la prensa del Vaticano.

Becciu fue el primer cardenal juzgado por un tribunal penal del Vaticano. También fue condenado a inhabilitación “perpetua” para ejercer cargos en la Santa Sede, pero la sentencia se encuentra en proceso de apelación y sin condena efectiva. La nueva etapa del juicio comenzará en septiembre.

A cardinal who was forced by Pope Francis to resign his Vatican job and was later convicted of embezzlement will not take place in the upcoming conclave to choose the next pope. 

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, 76, announced Tuesday, «Having at heart the good of the church, which I have served and will continue to serve with fidelity and love, as well as to contribute to the communion and serenity of the conclave, I have decided to obey as I have always done the will of Pope Francis not to enter the conclave while remaining convinced of my innocence.» 

Becciu was once an influential Vatican chief of staff who was a leading papal contender himself, according to the Associated Press. But he fell from grace in 2020 when Francis forced him to resign his job as head of the Vatican’s saint-making office and his rights as a cardinal because of allegations of financial misconduct in relation to the purchase of a building in London. 

Becciu denied wrongdoing but was put on trial in the Vatican criminal court and convicted of finance-related charges in December 2023. He is appealing the conviction and 5 1/2-year prison sentence and had participated in the pre-conclave meetings, including on Monday. 

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Italian daily Domani reported last week that during the initial pre-conclave discussions, Becciu was presented with two letters signed by Francis before he died saying he should not participate in the conclave.  

Becciu is under the age limit of 80 and technically eligible to vote, but the Vatican’s official statistics list him as a «non-elector.» 

CARDINAL DOLAN GIVES INSIDE LOOK INTO CONCLAVE 

Angelo Becciu presides over a Eucharistic liturgy at the St. John in Latheran Basilica in Rome in February 2017.  (AP/Gregorio Borgia)

The conclave is set to begin next Wednesday, while Becciu’s appeal will unfold in September. 

Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez of El Salvador, an 82-year-old who is not eligible to vote in the conclave, said Tuesday that «I have the impression that the conclave will be short, two or three days, this is the feeling we have inside the room,» according to Reuters. 

Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter’s Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday, April 20. (AP/Gregorio Borgia))

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The Vatican recently announced «the Sistine Chapel will be closed to the public from Monday 28 April 2025 for the requirements of the Conclave.» 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

EXCLUSIVE: Alaska Department of Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum discussed President Trump’s key role in unleashing energy independence in the state while speaking to Fox News Digital and explaining that Alaskan resources are ready to be used if the push to acquire Greenland is unsuccessful.

Crum, speaking to Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officer Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida, explained that the «vast majority» of state government funds in Alaska come from developing natural resources, including mining and crude oil, and praised the Trump administration’s moves to reverse course from the Biden administration when it comes to that development.

«President Trump, you know our Governor Dunleavy has actually said he’s probably one of the best presidents for Alaska,» Crum said. «In his first term he did tremendous things for us and now in his second term, we were the only state that had an executive order directed at us and that was such a crucial thing, and it really improved our economic outlook within the state.»

On the first day of his presidency, Trump signed an executive order advancing the Ambler Access Project, a 211-mile industrial road through the Brooks Range foothills that enables commercial mining of copper, zinc and other materials in a remote Arctic area in Northwest Alaska. 

ALASKA SENATOR LITERALLY SHREDS BIDEN’S ENERGY ORDERS, BOOSTS WH EFFORTS TO LEVERAGE ARCTIC GAS PIPELINE

Fox News Digital spoke to Alaska Department of Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum, right, about energy production in his state. (Fox Digital/Getty)

Experts told Fox News Digital in February that the action, which reversed course from the Biden administration, will play a critical role in developing mineral resources in the state. 

«We think that we are on the precipice in Alaska on an energy boom, when it comes to large-scale oil development, the natural gas line getting developed that the president really pushes very hard for, as well as all of these critical minerals that we need to get processed,» Crum said. 

President Trump has vocally called for the United States to acquire Greenland for strategic purposes as well as due to its natural resources. Crum told Fox News Digital that Alaska is ready to step up when it comes to natural resources. 

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS: ALASKA’S ENERGY, SECURITY POLICIES ARE THE GUIDE FEDS NEED AMID TRANSITION, GROUP SAYS

President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

«We do have our own Greenland. We have our Greenland that has a long history and track record of developing these resources in an area of the world that people would never have thought that it could be done responsibly,» Crum said. «We’ve processed oil for over 60 years on the Arctic Ocean, and we have done so while at the same time building an 800-mile crude oil pipeline that actually has seen the caribou numbers increase over time with that pipeline being built. And so Alaskans are conservationists by nature.»

«We are hunters, we are fishermen, our indigenous population are subsistence, they gather, but we are the ones who use the land. We also want to be able to develop the land, so we make sure we do it the correct way,» Crum continued. «In Alaska, we call it the Alaska standard. We don’t need outside groups telling us that we have to do it responsibly. This is what we demand of companies as they come up there. Come up, be profitable, be clean. Profit Alaska, let Alaskan’s have jobs and opportunities and also go enjoy the outdoors.»

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Aerial view of oil fields in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Prudhoe Bay on March 28. (Simon Bruty)

Ultimately, Crum told Fox News Digital that Alaskan energy independence will not only be good for the United States, but it will also help push back against dependence on countries that have been hostile to the country, including China. 

«We also have antimony deposits, which is a rare thing because China is the vast producer and processor of antimony, which is needed for not only technology, but also like munitions and military, and so we’ve got very viable deposits within Alaska on these things,» Crum explained.