Cardinal Becciu takes the stand: 'Accusations are unfounded'
By Salvatore Cernuzio
Delivered over the course of more than 2.5 hours, Cardinal Angelo Becciuâs spontaneous statement covered a wide range of topics, from his relations with the manager Cecilia Marogna and with Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, to bank transfers to Australia and the details of the sale of the London property, to his audience with the ĐÓMAP”Œșœ on 24 September 2020, in which he was deprived of his rights as a Cardinal.
The fourteenth session of the trial in the Vatican for alleged financial wrongdoing, once again presided over by Giuseppe Pignatone, opened with the news that Msgr Perlasca, the former head of the administrative office of the Secretariat of State and considered the âkey witnessâ in the trial, has joined the civil action. He will be represented by Angelo Alessandro Sammarco.
Becciuâs spontaneous statement
Seated in the centre of the multi-purpose hall of the Vatican Museums, holding a blue leather folder, the cardinal â in his second appearance on the stand â strongly reiterated his âabsolute innocence,â as well as his dismay at having been exposed to a âpublic pillory of worldwide proportions.â
Saying he was âtorn apart by an inner conflictâ between the desire to defend himself and âthe priestly dignity that leads me not to expose the evil done by others,â the cardinal, from 10:05am to 12:35pm spoke without interruption and dwelt on each of the charges.
Audience with the ĐÓMAP”Œșœ on 24 September 2020
First, he returned to the so-called Sardinia affair, then to the bank transfers to Caritas of Ozieri and the Spes Cooperative, of which his brother Tonino is a member. The cardinal objected to the fact that the family member was âmade to look like a âfixerâ,â describing him instead as a man who has done a great deal for the poor and the community.
He then recalled the moment when âfor the first timeâ such accusations were made against him personally â namely, at the audience with ĐÓMAP”Œșœ Francis at the end of September 2020, which ended with Becciuâs resignation.
âThe Holy Father,â Becciu said, âtold me that following ad hoc investigations, he had been told that the funds from the Peterâs Pence charity that I sent to Caritas in my diocese of Ozieri had served to enrich my brothers, in particular my brother Tonino. He also told me that he was saddened that an Italian weekly magazine had already reported this serious accusation and that an article on the subject would soon be published.â
âA scandal of unprecedented gravityâ
The cardinal explained in court that he was âspeechless, so absurd and unfounded was that accusation.â
He said, âThe transfer of the 125,000 Euro was the only accusation he made against me. The Holy Father told me expressly that he had no others. For the love of the Church, I, therefore, considered it necessary, with great sorrow, to resign from the post I heldâ [ed.: Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints].
From that point, he said, his life was âturned upside downâ: âI was splashed across the front pages of newspapers around the world; deprived of every ecclesiastical office; relegated to the margins of the Curia and the Church.â The cardinal said he still wonders today âwhy these false accusations were reported to the ĐÓMAP”Œșœ,â creating in the Church âa scandal of unprecedented gravity.â
Investments of the Secretariat of State
Cardinal Becciu likewise described as âinfamousâ the accusations of embezzlement with regard to investments with the funds of the Secretariat of State, and specifically the illicit use of internal finances and of funds from Peterâs Pence for purposes other than charitable ones.
If the accusations had any merit, he said, âI would have abused my powers to enrich people substantially unknown to me.â He once again insisted, âAll of the accusations are totally unfounded.â
Perlasca and âthe investigation that overwhelmed himâ
The cardinal dwelt at length on the figure of Monsignor Perlasca, whom he described as a âhighly experienced technical expert with a high level of dedication to his office,â a man of âthe utmost trust,â but also an âirascible and touchyâ personality, âjealous of his own autonomy,â with the great ambition of becoming an apostolic nuncio.
Monsignor Perlasca always had positive relations with him while Becciu was Substitute at the Secretariat of State, he said, until the investigation âthat prostrated him terriblyâ.
The monsignor ended up âin the grip of profound lonelinessâ and experienced the âgreat bitternessâ of being removed from his post in the Dicastery.
Cardinal Becciu said that Msgr Perlasca asked him for help to defend his position and to meet with the ĐÓMAP”Œșœ. The audience took place but did not improve his mood, the cardinal said, before describing a dramatic text message in which Perlasca announced his intention of committing suicide by throwing himself out of the window of his room.
According to Cardinal Becciu, Monsignor Perlasca felt it was âthe only possible solution to get out of a situation that left him no chance of proving his innocence.â Cardinal Becciu said he alerted several people, including the gendarmes, and personally went to the Casa Santa Marta where Perlasca was staying. The priest was also given a sedative that evening.
Cardinal Becciu said in court that he had always been at his collaboratorâs side and that, after the summer, he invited him to dinner âto repay him for his caring assistance.â However, he said, at the restaurant he found âa different man, very strange and touchy.â The cardinal went on to say, âAfter that dinner, he distanced himself from me.â
A âdisturbing figureâ
The situation was aggravated, Cardinal Becciu said, by the emergence of a âdisturbing figureâ: a woman who said her name was Genevieve Putignani, born Genoveffa Ciferri, who contacted Becciu as someone close to Perlasca and, in brusque tones, asked âto speak to the ĐÓMAP”Œșœ to defend his innocenceâ.
The woman, who claimed to be a former secret service agent, began pestering him with phone calls, the cardinal said, accusing him of having done nothing for the monsignor. He described one scene where she came to his flat âbeatifyingâ Perlasca, reproaching Becciu, and expressing âuncomplimentary sentiments directed at the ĐÓMAP”Œșœ.â
The cardinal said he became impatient and sent her away, and claimed she responded with a threat: âIf you do not do everything to restore honour and employment to Perlasca, you will lose your cardinalâs hat.â In a phone call to the cardinalâs other brother, Mario, âshe told him to get ready to visit me in prison.â Cardinal Becciu said she warned him on 10 September that between the 15th and 30th of the month I would lose the cardinalate. âI lost it on 24 September,â Becciu said in his testimony.
He also revealed, among other things, that on the basis of investigations conducted by lawyers, he discovered that Genoveffa Ciferri had donated real estate to Perlascain in 2017 in exchange for âsuitable moral and spiritual assistanceâ and the assurance of âcelebrating or having celebrated Gregorian Masses in suffrage or after death for five years, in accordance diocesan rate.â
Cecilia Marogna: âvery competent'
One other woman figured prominently in Becciuâs statement: Cecilia Marogna, the manager from Cagliari (who has also been charged) who presented herself to him as an intelligence expert and an aspiring collaborator of the Holy See to help free religious who had been kidnapped in global trouble spots. For this mission, the cardinal allegedly provided her with large sums of money, which she then used for purchases âincompatible with the purpose imposed on her by the Secretariat of State.â
Marogna met the cardinal in 2016 and, he said, he immediately had a âgood impressionâ of her, seeing her as particularly âcompetent,â with good connections in the Vatican and among the Italian Secret Services.
The âladyâ proposed herself as an intermediary for the release of Sister Gloria Cecilia Navaes Goti, a Colombian Franciscan kidnapped in Mali in 2017. âShe referred me to a British intelligence agency, Inkerman, with which she could profitably interface by activating all the operations necessary for the release of Sister Gloria.â
Becciu informed the ĐÓMAP”Œșœ, who, he said, was âpleased,â and âimmediately understood the need not to expose the Vatican to useless, and indeed harmful, publicity.â The ĐÓMAP”Œșœ, said Cardinal Becciu, âgave me the authorization to proceed and, when I explicitly asked if I should have spoken to the Commander of the Gendarmerie, he said no, adding that the matter should remain confidential between him and me.â
The nun was actually released on 21 October 2021. Marogna was paid into different accounts. The expenses were intended to secure the nunâs release, but, according to the prosecution, the manager used much of the money to buy clothing, accessories, and luxury furniture.
Investment with Falcon Oil
In his lengthy statement, Cardinal Becciu also touched on two further issues.
The first was the investment with Falcon Oil, an oil company in Angola, owned by entrepreneur Antonio Mosquito, his âfriendâ during Becciuâs time in the nunciature to the African country. Mosquito, a âbenefactor of the Nunciature,â proposed the purchase of the right to exploit the fields of Well 15, also owned by [Italian energy company] ENI.
Becciu reported the possible investment to the Secretariat of State: âMy intervention was limited to reporting the simple proposal, and on several occasions, I urged Perlasca to rigorously carry out all the necessary checks to protect the Holy See from any possible financial risk.â
The negotiations did not go forward. Becciu said he did not protest because, he said, he cared more about the âgreater good of the Holy Seeâ than about any âpersonal interest.â
Case of Cardinal Pell
The second issue concerned bank transfers sent to Australia, amounting to about 2.3 million Australian dollars, during the period of the abuse trial against Cardinal George Pell. Two years ago, some media outlets suggested that Becciu â who, at the time, was Substitute of the Secretariat of State â had financed false testimonies to the detriment of the Australian cardinal, with whom he had differences in the Curia.
In his testimony on Thursday, Cardinal Becciu denounced the accusation as âshameful⊠an ignoble and unbearable inference.â He read part of a letter from Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin stating that the sum was used to pay for the Internet domain â.catholic.â
From correspondence, Becciu claimed to have discovered that, among other things, it was Cardinal Pell himself who had authorized this payment, in a letter from 2015. Cardinal Becciu said he was saddened that Cardinal Pell âhad fallen into this misunderstanding.â
Cross-examination by the Promoter of Justice
Following Cardinal Becciuâs statement, the hearing continued with questioning by the Deputy Promoter of Justice, Alessandro Diddi. Almost three hours of questioning was characterized by strong tensions between the promoter and the defence lawyers, to the point where Pignatone, the presiding judge, became impatient and exclaimed: âEnough! Iâm tired of your bickeringâ and called a fiveâminute break âto calm everyone down.â
The defence lawyersâ ire was raised when Diddi asked the cardinal to further explain the conversation with the ĐÓMAP”Œșœ on 24 September, given that many details had already been reconstructed in the summons against the newspaper LâEspresso âin an analytical manner, minute by minute.â
Becciu, however, wanted to respond. He said the ĐÓMAP”Œșœ told him that, based on the investigation by the Guardia di Finanza, after the cardinal had sent the money (then 100,000 Euro) to Ozieri, the Vatican magistrates had seen âthat the little hand of his brother Tonino had removed the money.â
The ĐÓMAP”Œșœ, the cardinals added, had also heard about âa newspaper that is about to come out with a news storyâ and therefore said: âIn the face of public opinion, I have to distance myself from a collaborator of mine who is accused of stealing money.â Cardinal Becciu said that when he returned home, he phoned the bishop of Ozieri and his brother asking where the money was. Both confirmed that it was in the account of the diocese.
Press conference after the resignation
The day after the audience, Becciu invited journalists to a press conference in an institute close to St Peterâs â a move seen by many as disrespectful to the Pontiff.
At the Promoterâs request, the cardinal explained his action by saying he wanted to hold the conference because, after the Vatican Press Office statement, he was âharassed by so many phone callsâ from âjournalists who thought I had resigned because of sex crimes.â
He said, âIt disturbed me enormously, it unnerved me quite a bit. I didnât want to be accused of those crimes.â
Carlino and Milone
Cardinal Becciu then clarified his relationship with Monsignor Mauro Carlino, also a defendant: for him, he was always and only a secretary. He defined his relations with the former auditor general, Libero Milone, as âvery courteous.â
On the âfateâ of the auditor, who ceased to hold office in the Vatican in 2017 (against his will, according to Milone), the cardinal did not want to answer âfor the love of the Holy Father.â
Special contributions
The Assistant Promoter also asked numerous questions about the investments of the Secretariat of State.
In the courtroom, Diddi also displayed a chart listing all the contributions made to the dioceses in the years when Becciu was Substitute, including Buenos Aires, Carpi, Rieti, Norcia, and Bucharest. âEhh, Ozieri the first of all in seven years. Iâm proud of it,â the cardinal exclaimed. He then reiterated that he had always been very âstrictâ about the fact that the resources of Peterâs Pence were not directed to purposes other than charity.
He also said that the Secretariat of State was a sort of âivory towerâ, with its own sovereignty over finances that no one could enter. This, at least, is how it has always been and has continued to be even after the birth of the economic bodies set up by ĐÓMAP”Œșœ Francis, first and foremost the Secretariat of the Economy which â despite the attempts of the then Prefect, Cardinal Pell â only had the task of supervision.
Credit Suisse, Lombard and Mincione
Finally, Cardinal Becciu was asked to account for the so-called âLombardâ investment, the transfer of all the economic assets of the Secretariat of State into a single account in order to benefit from the interest.
In 2013, all deposits were transferred to Credit Suisse. Why there? The cardinal said he did not remember or know the details of the operation, which was planned by âinsidersâ such as Fabrizio Tirabassi and the financier Enrico Crasso, consultant to the Secretariat of State since the 1990s, with Perlascaâs consent. Credit Suisse, he said, âseemed a trustworthy bank.â
The same bank proposed the name of broker Raffaele Mincione (also a defendant) as an expert in the oil sector to lead the negotiations with Falcon Oil.
Mincione â about whom the Secretariat of State asked the Gendarmerie for information following articles that were not very âlaudatoryâ â then suggested investing in the Sloane Avenue building in London. The deal was then passed on to the broker Gianluigi Torzi.
The rest is more or less known history on which the judicial proceedings are intended to shed light. Pignatone, however, noted, âwe are still on the periphery of the process.â
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