Who was Cardinal Peque and what crimes was he convicted of in the Vatican’s “trial of the century”?

(CNN Spanish) — It was Giovanni Angelo Becciu The first cardinal was found guilty and sentenced by the court From the Vatican: After a long career at the Holy See, a 75-year-old priest sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for participating in various financial crimes has already announced he will appeal.

Who is Giovanni Angelo Pesiu?

Giovanni Angelo Pesiu, age 75, was born on June 2, 1948 in Patata, Sardinia. According to the Vatican press service.

He was ordained as a young priest in 1972. More than a decade later, in 1984, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He served in papal missions in the Central African Republic, Sudan, New Zealand, Liberia, Great Britain, France and the United States.

Later, under the appointment of then Pope John Paul II, he was Apostolic Ambassador to Angola, then Sao Tome and Principe, and finally to Cuba, between 2009 and 2011.

That year he was appointed to one of the Vatican’s most important posts, the post of “sostituto” (substitute) in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, equivalent to papal prefect. In this position, the prelate had the privilege of seeing the Pope when needed.

Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2018, the same year he began serving as head of the office that oversees canonizations.

The trial began in 2020, more than two years after it ended with his conviction Pope rejects Piqueu As head of the Vatican department for canonization, he was stripped of the right to vote at future conclaves (a right he had by virtue of his title and age, and all cardinals under 80 can vote at the conclave that defines the new. Pope when the office of head of the Church becomes vacant).

What crimes was he convicted of?

At the center of the so-called “trial of the century”, a sprawling property in south-west London’s Chelsea has been bought by the Vatican. Plans were made to renovate the property and convert it into apartments.

The Holy See spent US$400 million on the operation over the years, but ended up with losses of US$150 million after finally selling the property. Vatican prosecutors argued that the church defrauded millions by overpaying for property, while intermediaries were blamed for the negligence of those responsible for a series of contracts.

In the judgment, As quoted by Catholic news agency ACI PrensaThe trial court said between 2013 and 2014 a total of US$200.5 million was illegally used “at the behest” of Becciu, “approximately a third of the State Secretariat’s assets”.

Bequeau was found guilty of embezzling funds from the Holy See and convicted of two counts of conspiracy.

On the one hand, he was convicted of paying Cecilia Marogna 570,000 euros (about $623,000) to be used as a defense counsel to exonerate a nun with an argument that was “not consistent with the truth.” Abducted in Mali.

(Marogna, nicknamed “The Cardinal’s Lady” for her relationship with the priest during these years, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for misappropriating hundreds of thousands of euros authorized by Pesiu. )

On the other hand, the court sentenced him for transferring 125,000 euros (approximately US$137,000) to Ozieri’s Cáritas organization, arguing that “the distribution of funds was set by the Secretary of State” even though the ultimate destination of the money was legal. , in this case, a misappropriation of the same constitutes the offense of defamation.”

Becciu has always denied the charges against him, and after the sentencing his lawyer reaffirmed his innocence and said he would appeal the cardinal’s verdict.

With CNN’s Christopher Lamb reporting.