Camille Naredo

Cardinals attend a mass at St Peter's basilica in The Vatican, on April 29, 2025.

Cardinals attend a mass at St Peter's basilica in The Vatican, on April 29, 2025. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

Article (news)

The Vatican

Agence France-Presse

VATICAN CITY, Holy See -- A Vatican court on Tuesday ordered the re-trial for embezzlement of a cardinal, in a dramatic ruling that also invalidated a decree from the late pope Francis ordering the investigation.Pending the new proceedings, to begin June 22, the guilty verdict against Cardinal Angelo Becciu remains in place, said the appeals court in its decision seen by AFP.The court said it ordered the re-trial of Becciu, a once-powerful former adviser to Francis who was convicted of financial crimes in 2023, because documents gathered during the preliminary investigation were not fully shared with the defense.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/17/23/vatican-cardinal-handed-55-years-jail-for-embezzlement">READ: Vatican cardinal handed 5.5 years jail for embezzlement</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/10/with-papacy-leo-xiv-inherits-vatican-money-troubles-2030">READ: With papacy, Leo XIV inherits Vatican money troubles</a></div>Moreover, in what defense attorneys said was a historic move, a papal order, or rescript, from Francis ordering the prosecutor to carry out a preliminary investigation was invalidated as it was not disclosed to the defense.Late and incomplete documents &quot;would have resulted in the defendants and their defense attorneys being unaware of them during the preliminary investigation phase, with the consequent nullity of the measures adopted on the basis of those documents,&quot; read the decision, citing arguments by the defense.Lawyers for one of Becciu&#x27;s co-defendants, Fabrizio Tirabassi, called the decision by the appeals court &quot;historic&quot;.&quot;For the first time in Vatican history...(the court) ruled that a papal rescript was invalid and void due to failure to publish it,&quot; lawyers Massimo Bassi and Cataldo Intrieri told the Huffington Post.Becciu, an Italian who was once considered a papal contender, was sentenced in 2023 to five years and six months in jail over a disastrous Vatican investment in a luxury building in London.He is not behind bars and would not be expected to serve any time until the appeals process has been exhausted.Becciu had already been removed from his position in the Vatican administration and stripped of his rights as cardinal in 2020, when the scandal emerged.He had previously been number two at the Vatican&#x27;s influential Secretariat of State between 2011 and 2018.Due to his conviction, he was not able to take part in the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV last year.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/08/20/mystery-woman-admits-500000-euro-payment-from-dismissed-cardinal">FROM 2020: Mystery woman admits 500,000-euro payment from dismissed cardinal</a></div>The original trial shone a light on the Holy See&#x27;s murky finances, which Leo&#x27;s predecessor Francis sought to clean up after taking the helm of the Catholic Church in 2013.At the heart of the trial was the purchase of a building in London&#x27;s upmarket Chelsea neighborhood, which resulted in losses that the Vatican claimed dipped into resources intended for charity.Becciu was found guilty of embezzlement over the decision to invest $200 million in 2013-2014 into a fund run by financier Raffaele Mincione, which the judges said was hugely risky.Some of this money went to buying part of the Sloane Avenue property in London -- a deal in which the Vatican lost between 140 million and 190 million euros, according to prosecutors.

A Vatican court on Tuesday ordered the re-trial for embezzlement of a cardinal, in a dramatic ruling that also invalidated a decree from the late pope Francis ordering the investigation.

A Vatican court on Tuesday ordered the re-trial for embezzlement of a cardinal, in a dramatic ruling that also invalidated a decree from the late pope Francis ordering the investigation.

Vatican orders re-trial for cardinal convicted of fraud

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Vatican orders re-trial for cardinal convicted of fraud

Agence France-Presse

Published Mar 18, 2026 01:07 AM PHT

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religion

Catholic Church

Vatican City

Holy See

Vatican court

Pope Francis

Angelo Becciu

embezzlement

fraud

financial crimes

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