VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Amid swirling controversy, Cardinal Angelo Becciu will now not take part in the conclave to elect the new pope.
In a report published by Il Tempo on April 28, Nico Spuntoni revealed that the Sardinian cardinal will no longer be part of the conclave to elect the 267th pope next week.
According to Spuntoni, Becciu withdrew himself from the conclave for the “unity” of the Church.
Becciu – formerly the the Sostituto in the Vatican Secretariat of State – decided to renounce his claim to participate in the conclave voting rounds.
There are currently 135 cardinal electors, with 108 of those having been created by Francis in 10 consistories. With Becciu’s withdrawal, some 134 will attend the conclave.
As noted by LifeSite, the cardinal had been participating in the General Congregations up until this point and had attested to his claim to join his brother cardinals in the conclave.
However, such a claim had been controversial. Due to the scandal surrounding him and the wider Vatican financial scandal, Becciu previously had his cardinalatial rights removed by Francis in a quasi-forced resignation some years prior.
After going on trial at the Vatican he was served a prison sentence of five-and-a-half years in December 2023, deemed to be guilty of numerous counts of “embezzlement,” and given an €8,000 fine and a permanent ban from holding public office.
But in August 2022 the cardinal attested that Francis had personally informed him of his rehabilitation as a cardinal, and subsequently has taken part in consistories since that time. “On Saturday, the Pope phoned me to tell me that I will be reinstated in my cardinal duties and to ask me to participate in a meeting with all the cardinals that will be held in the coming days in Rome,” Becciu said at the time.
In recent days, news had emerged that Becciu’s former superior – Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the former Secretary of State – had opposed Becciu’s involvement in the conclave.
Following this, Parolin then produced two letters on Thursday, supposedly from Francis, which are believed to have shown the late pope’s decision to exclude Becciu from a conclave. One was signed in 2023 and another was signed by Francis in the hospital during these past few weeks. The latter bore the short signature of “F,” Italian media reports stated.
Asked earlier today about the issue of Becciu’s role in the conclave, Holy See Press Office director Matteo Bruni declined to comment one way or the other, saying instead that there was no conclusion.
Whether Becciu decided to withdraw from the conclave during today’s General Congregation or after it had concluded remains unknown.
Parolin has key authority in the conclave, as the highest-ranking cardinal bishop under the age of 80. As such, he has a particular responsibility to ensuring that all members, himself included, adhere to the precise stipulations governing a papal conclave as laid out by the Church’s documents.
Reports had emerged that Parolin’s aides were pushing for the conclave to start as soon as possible to facilitate his own prospects. The conclave is due to start on May 7, with the final days of the General Congregations happening this week and early next week.
Between then, the Vatican is also hosting the Novemdiales, nine days of mourning, with a daily Mass for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis.
Some 180 cardinals present today, with over 100 cardinal electors present out of that number.
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Pope John Paul II’s document Universi Dominici Gregis (UDG) stipulates that “the maximum number of Cardinal electors must not exceed one hundred and twenty.”
Commenting on this passage from UDG and the likelihood of a conclave taking place while there are more than 120 cardinal voters, canon lawyer Father Gerald Murray explained to this correspondent that since the first line of UDG section 33 preserves the right only to cardinals of electing the pope, in this case “all cardinals under age 80 have the right to enter the conclave and to vote for the next pope.”
“The limit of 120 cardinal voters is effectively rendered null when the pope creates more than that number,” Murray added.
Meanwhile, leading prelates such as Raymond Cardinal Burke, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, and Bishop Joseph Strickland have launched novenas and prayer crusades in the build up to the conclave.
LifeSite readers are encouraged to pray for the repose of the Pope’s soul and for the Church at this crucial juncture.
Join Bishop Strickland’s novena for a holy pope: