(ZENIT News / Rome, 04.29.2025).- Cardinal Angelo Becciu has formally announced, this Tuesday, April 29, that he will not participate in the Conclave scheduled for May 7. The cardinal made the decision public through a statement emphasizing his enduring loyalty to the Church and his intention to preserve the unity and peace of the College of Cardinals during a pivotal moment.
«I have always served the Church with fidelity and love,» Becciu wrote, adding that his decision to stay out of the papal election reflects his respect for Pope Francis’s wishes, even though he continues to assert his innocence.
Becciu’s absence from the Conclave, where the next pope will be chosen following the death of Pope Francis, marks a dramatic turn in a saga that has placed him at the center of a Vatican financial scandal. In December 2023, he became the first cardinal in history to be convicted by a Vatican tribunal, receiving a five-and-a-half-year sentence for embezzlement and fraud related to dubious investment deals, including a controversial London real estate purchase made by the Secretariat of State.
Although Becciu resigned from his curial positions in 2020 under pressure from the pope, he had never been formally stripped of his cardinalate and had resumed attending public Vatican events from 2022 onward. His presence at the late pope’s funeral and participation in pre-conclave meetings had raised eyebrows, reigniting debate over whether a cardinal under criminal conviction should play a role in electing a new pontiff.
Initial discussions among some cardinals reportedly included the possibility of voting on Becciu’s eligibility to join the Conclave. However, that internal tension appears to have been diffused with the cardinal’s voluntary step back.
Sources close to the Vatican suggest that Becciu’s decision was not entirely spontaneous. Reports in the Italian press reveal that he had received at least two letters — one in 2023 and another in March this year, both signed with the initial “F” and shared by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin — implying that Pope Francis preferred his exclusion from the Conclave. At the time of the latter letter, the pope was hospitalized, suggesting an urgency and seriousness behind the communication.
Until recently, Becciu had maintained that he was free to take part in the election and had even interpreted Pope Francis’s previous gestures — such as invitations to Vatican ceremonies — as signals of personal forgiveness.
Reaction from his fellow cardinals has been largely muted. Becciu’s withdrawal brings relief to many within the Church who feared that his participation could further erode public confidence in Vatican governance.
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