According to Cardinal Angelo Becciu, he is blameless in the forced resignation of a Vatican auditor because it came at Pope Francis’ request.

Newsroom (24/05/2022 10:31 AM Gaudium Press) Cardinal Angelo Becciu opened a second day of questioning in the Vatican’s extensive financial fraud trial by saying Francis had recently authorized him to reveal the details of Libero Milone’s 2017 departure as the Vatican’s first auditor-general. He did so to clarify his previous testimony on May 5, 2022, during which he declined to respond to questions about Milone “out of love for the Holy Father.”

Becciu was said to be responsible for the sudden firing in 2017 of the Vatican’s first auditor general, Libero Milone, and the cancellation of an internal audit.

But during a May 18 hearing in the Vatican’s finance trial, Becciu denied this, stating that in June 2017, Pope Francis called him to a meeting in his Santa Marta residence, where he claimed that he longer had trust in Milone and therefore wanted Becciu to contact the auditor and tell him he must resign.

According to Becciu, the pope also expressed regret for entrusting the then-sostituto of the Secretariat of State with “these thankless tasks.”

Becciu said he had received Pope Francis’ permission to speak freely about the situation.

The cardinal said the motivation for ousting Milone was the same one cited by the Vatican in a Sept. 24, 2017, press release, which stated that Milone had “illegally commissioned an external firm to carry out investigative activities on the private lives of representatives of the Holy See.”

Becciu made clear Wednesday that Francis ordered Milone out because Milone had hired an outside investigative firm to spy on Vatican hierarchs like himself. He said Francis summoned him on Jun. 7, 2017, and asked him to tell Milone “that as of today he no longer had the trust of the Holy Father” and to ask him to submit his resignation.

“I have no responsibility concerning the resignation of Dr. Milone,” Becciu said. “I merely followed an order received by the Holy Father, that was taken in full autonomy without any involvement.”

Becciu was questioned by Vatican prosecutor Alessandro Diddi for nearly eight hours on May 18 as part of the Vatican’s trial to prosecute Vatican officials and collaborators for financial misconduct, mainly in connection with the controversial purchase of a London investment property.

The interrogation was characterized by combative questioning from Diddi, who was rebuked by court president Giuseppe Pignatone more than once.

Becciu, the second-ranking official of the Secretariat of State until 2018, frequently said he could not remember the answer to questions the prosecutor posed, once making reference to his age, claiming that the stress of the trial “has influenced my memory greatly.”

President Pignatone called for a five-minute recess after Diddi got aggressive with Becciu, accusing the cardinal of pretending not to remember.

The Peter’s Pence Issue

Becciu, charged with embezzlement, abuse of office, and witness tampering, also responded to questions about whether the London building was purchased using money from Peter’s Pence, a fund used to finance the pope’s charitable activities and the operations of the Roman Curia.

According to 2019 reports, Peter’s Pence funds, which are donated by Catholics around the world, were used to help finance the Secretariat of State’s purchase of the property at 60 Sloane Avenue in London — an investment the secretariat now claims was designed by bad actors to defraud the Vatican of money.

Becciu said he was told by the former head of his administrative office, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, that Peter’s Pence funds were not used in the London purchase, only Secretariat of State assets.

The head of the Vatican’s central bank, APSA, has also said Peter’s Pence money was not used.

Bishop Nunzio Galantino also said in 2020 that “independent estimates” put the Vatican’s losses on the property at between 66-150 million pounds ($81-185 million).

Becciu said at the May 5 hearing that it would not be incompatible with their purposes to use Peter’s Pence funds for investments.

Perlasca, once a suspect in the Vatican’s financial investigation, is now a witness for the prosecution. On the witness tampering charge, he was also approved on May 18 to join the trial as a civil party seeking damages against his former superior, Becciu.

Cardinal Becciu said on the stand that while he was at the Secretariat of State, he trusted Perlasca and his honesty. According to him, this explains why he never questioned any of the investments.

He said Perlasca never made him aware of any suspicious behaviour by Italian businessman Raffaele Mincione, who sold the Vatican the London building, and Gianluigi Torzi, who brokered the deal’s final stage in 2018.

The prosecutor presented to the court evidence of messages from July 2019, the year after the conclusion of the London sale, in which Perlasca relayed information to Becciu about suspicious behaviour by Mincione and Torzi.

(Via CNA and AP)

Compiled by Raju Hasmukh