On Thursday, November 24, a Vatican corruption trial heard a secretly recorded phone call between the main accused, 74-year-old Cardinal Angelo Becciu, and Pope Francis.

This is reported by Reuters. 

The recording was made without the Pope's knowledge by someone who was in the room with Becciu in July 2021, shortly before the trial began.

When the recording was played, the journalists were asked to leave the room.

Lawyers who attended the hearing later said Becciu had asked the Pope to confirm that the pontiff had authorized the payment to help free the nun who had been kidnapped in Africa.

Lawyers said that during the conversation, the pope was confused and embarrassed by such a phone call from Becciu and repeatedly asked the cardinal to send him a written note outlining exactly what he wanted.

More than half a billion euros for the release of the nun

The phone call related to one of the episodes of this corruption case, which took place back in 2018.

Then Becciu, then the third most powerful person in the Vatican, hired another now-accused, Cecilia Marogna, who described herself as a security analyst, to free a Colombian nun who had been kidnapped in Mali by an al-Qaeda-linked group.

Marogna, 44, received €575,000 from the Secretariat of State, the Vatican's most important department, in 2018-2019, when Becciu was there.

The money was sent to a company she set up in Slovenia and she received some in cash, the court was told.

Police found that Marogna spent a large portion of the money on personal needs, including luxury brand clothing and visits to health spas.

What else is the cardinal accused of?

74-year-old Cardinal Angelo Becciu appeared before the Vatican court on charges of improper use of church funds.

The cardinal was one of the closest allies of Pope Francis, but in September 2020 the pontiff asked him to resign.

The suspect is also accused of spending $412 million in a botched purchase of real estate in the prestigious London area of ​​Chelsea, which resulted in large losses.

A two-year investigation revealed that the Vatican lost millions of euros, including donations from the faithful.

The cardinal was previously in charge of donations in the secretariat that oversees the Vatican's finances.

Becciu is suspected of withdrawing funds from the treasury through shadow companies and transferring the money to his brothers in Sardinia.

Becciu does not admit his guilt and calls himself the victim of a conspiracy.

There are nine more defendants in the case who are accused of extortion, money laundering and abuse of office.

We will remind you that in 2021, the Vatican published information about its real estate assets for the first time.

The Holy See owns more than 5,000 real estate properties.

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