In the process of the alleged unlawful use of funds from the Catholic Church State, a person responsible spoke on Thursday. The ten defendants are accused of abuse of office and fraud, among other things.
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu on allegations of abuse of office and fraud: “All of these allegations are completely unfounded”
(dpa) The accused Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu has rejected all allegations in the process of a Vatican real estate deal in London with losses in the millions. “All of these allegations are completely unfounded,” said the Italian in a more than two-hour statement in court in Rome on Thursday. He defended himself against allegations that he had abused his office and that he had used money from the Peterspfennig – the donations collected annually for the Vatican worldwide – unlawfully. When asked, Becciu repeatedly referred to other employees.
The process is about the alleged unlawful use of funds from the Catholic Church State when buying a luxury property in the Chelsea district of London between 2014 and 2018. Donations from believers are said to have been used for this. The deal went awry because the Vatican invested more money than planned. In the end there was a loss of more than 100 million euros. The building has now been sold again. The allegations against a total of ten defendants include abuse of office and fraud.
Becciu – during the period in question in a senior position as a substitute at the powerful Vatican Secretariat of State – was able to comment on all the charges on the 14th day of the hearing. Pope Francis released the 73-year-old from the so-called papal secret. Becciu also “categorically” denied allegations that he had illegally sent money to a security adviser. He is the first cardinal to sit in the Vatican’s dock.
Becciu also commented on the case of Australian Cardinal George Pell, who was being tried in his home country for sexual abuse. He denied allegations that A$2.3 million was used to influence the process. He cited a letter from number two in the Vatican, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, as evidence. From this he quoted: “The sum was used, as mentioned several times, to pay for the Internet domain “.catholic”.