A top Catholic cardinal and adviser to Pope Francis resigned on Thursday after he was caught up in several financial scandals within the Vatican.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who served as the No. 2 official in the Secretariat of State, was indirectly implicated in a London real estate scandal that has lost the Vatican millions of Euros over the past few years. In a rare move, Becciu resigned not only his official duties, but also his ability to act as a cardinal, meaning he will not be allowed to participate in the election of the next pope.
The Vatican late on Thursday announced Becciu’s resignation in a one-sentence statement. Becciu is not currently under investigation by the Vatican for financial wrongdoing.
The last cardinal to lose his privileges was Theodore McCarrick, who after the 2018 revelations of his sexual misconduct, was defrocked by Francis and retired from public life. Before him, the Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien lost similar privileges in 2015 after several priests accused him of sexual misconduct.
Becciu, during his time in the Secretariat of State, was involved in a power struggle with Cardinal George Pell of Australia, whom Francis had previously tapped to reform the Vatican’s finances. Earlier this year, Pell, a powerful conservative voice in the Vatican, was exonerated of sexual abuse charges following a drawn-out legal battle.
