Italian cardinal can't vote in papal election amid embezzlement conviction—reports
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu of Italy, who was convicted of embezzlement, will not be part of the May 7 conclave to elect a successor to the late Pope Francis, according to reports.
Italian media, including Domani, reported that Becciu had been pushing to participate in the conclave even though he is not on the official list of electors.
But Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Francis' secretary of state, presented Becciu with two documents signed by the late pope stating he could not vote in the election. The documents were dated from 2023 and March, according to Domani.
Becciu, Francis' former adviser who was considered a leading papal contender, was removed from office and stripped of his "rights and privileges" as cardinal in September 2020 amid allegations of financial misconduct. He was accused of investing in a luxury building in London, but denied any wrongdoing. He had been one of 10 defendants who were tried in a Vatican criminal court for financial crimes.
In December 2023, he was sentenced to five years and six months in prison. He's appealing the conviction.
Becciu rose to prominence and power under Pope Benedict XVI and is very much affiliated with the conservative Vatican old guard, according to The Associated Press. He was part of the Secretariat of State from 2011 to 2018 and had Parolin as his boss.
Becciu, who's 76 and technically eligible to vote as he's under the conclave's 80-year-old limit, is listed as a “non-elector" in the Vatican’s official statistics.
When he was removed from office in 2020, Becciu, in a hastily arranged press conference, said he wouldn't be voting in any future conclave. But he recently changed his tune, insisting that he's eligible to vote.
Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected pope on March 13, 2013. Vatican News announced his passing on Easter Monday. He was 88.
His death came a day after he had made his first prolonged public appearance since being discharged on March 23 from a 38-day hospital stay for double pneumonia.
On Easter Sunday, Francis had entered St. Peter's Square in an open-air popemobile shortly after midday, greeting cheering crowds. He had also offered a special blessing for the first time since Christmas.
Francis was laid to rest on April 26 at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome.
