A cardinal convicted of financial crimes by the Vatican said Tuesday he will not take part in the secret conclave to elect the new pope.
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, once one of the most powerful figures in the Vatican, was ordered by Pope Francis in 2020 to resign the “rights and privileges” of a cardinal after he became embroiled in a Vatican financial scandal.
Following the pope’s death last week, Becciu launched an appeal in support of his right to be in the conclave, but on Tuesday, he issued a statement announcing he was formally pulling out. “I have decided to obey, as I have always done, Pope Francis’ will not to enter the Conclave while remaining convinced of my innocence,” he said.
Cardinals have chosen May 7 as the date to start conclave and elect a new leader for 1.4 billion Catholics around the world, the Vatican announced Monday.
Becciu’s decision to withdraw from the conclave comes just seven days after he told a Sardinian newspaper that “there was no explicit will to exclude me from the conclave nor a request for my explicit renunciation in writing.”
The Sardinian cardinal previously held the position of “sostituto” (“substitute”) in the Holy See’s Secretariat of State – a papal chief of staff equivalent. The role offered Becciu walk-in privileges to see the pope and he commanded huge authority across the church’s central government. He was later moved to a position running the Vatican’s saint-making department.
Becciu was convicted of embezzlement and fraud in 2023 and handed a five-and-a-half-year jail sentence. He is the first cardinal to be convicted by the Vatican’s criminal court.
But the cardinal, who has always maintained his innocence, launched an appeal that’s currently still under consideration. He’s allowed to continue to live in a Vatican apartment while this process is underway.