Cardinal convicted of embezzlement won’t participate in conclave for Pope Francis’s successor

An Italian cardinal who was convicted of embezzlement and fraud said on Tuesday he will not take part in the secret conclave to elect the new pope that will be held next week following the death of Pope Francis.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the most senior Catholic Church official ever to stand trial before a Vatican criminal court, was sentenced to 5½ years in jail in December 2023. He denies all wrongdoing and is free pending an appeal that is scheduled to begin in September.

“Having at heart the good of the Church…. I have decided to obey, as I always have, the will of Pope Francis and to not enter the conclave, still remaining convinced of my innocence,” said Becciu.

In recent days, Becciu had asserted he had a right to enter the Sistine Chapel for the conclave with other cardinals beginning May 7.

Francis, who died on April 21 at the age of 88, elevated Becciu and several others to the rank of cardinal in 2018. But two years later, the pope asked for his resignation due to allegations of embezzlement and nepotism.

The pope allowed Becciu to keep his ecclesiastical title and his Vatican apartment but stripped him of what the Vatican said at the time were “the rights associated with the Cardinalate,” leaving ambiguity over whether he could join the conclave.

Becciu’s troubles occurred as an outgrowth of investigations into the Holy See’s investment in a luxury London property. 

Prosecutors began looking into other deals, including 125,000 euros ($182,600 Cdn) in Vatican money that he sent to a diocesan charity in his native Sardinia. Prosecutors alleged embezzlement, since the charity was run by his brother. Becciu argued that the local bishop requested the money for a bakery to employ at-risk youth, and that the money remained in the diocesan coffers. 

He was indicted in 2021.

‘Fraternal and sincere atmosphere’

About 135 cardinals under the age of 80, from all corners of the world, are eligible to take part in the vote for the next head of the 1.4-billion-member church, which is beset by concerns over its finances and divisions over doctrine.

The previous two conclaves, held in 2005 and 2013, lasted just two days. But some since the beginning of the 20th century lasted as long as five days.

Some of the cardinals appointed by Francis, who appointed many cardinals from countries who had never had them before, had not previously met.

However, Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez of El Salvador said on Tuesday he felt this conclave could be wrapped up swiftly.

“I have the impression that the conclave will be short, two or three days — this is the feeling we have inside the room,” he told reporters. Given his age of 82, Chavez will not be eligible to vote.

Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, head of Baghdad’s Chaldean Catholic Church, also said he expected a short process to elect a successor to Francis, who was the first pope from Latin America.

“There is a fraternal and sincere atmosphere, so it is the spirit of responsibility to choose someone who would continue Pope Francis’s work,” he said.

The conclave is being held at the 16th-century Sistine Chapel.

A pope is elected when a candidate receives at least two-thirds of the eligible vote.   

The cardinal electors come from more than 70 countries, with four Canadian cardinals eligible to participate in the conclave: Thomas Collins, Michael Czerny, Francis Leo and Gérald Lacroix. 

Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who turns in 81 in June, is ineligible to vote but is not eliminated from consideration as the next and 267th pope. When the 2013 ballots were revealed, Ouellet had placed third in all five ballots, behind Italian cardinal Angelo Scola and Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who chose the name Francis as pope in honour of St. Francis of Assisi.

Hallowed traditions

Cardinals cast their votes on papers printed with the Latin words “Eligo in Summum Pontificem” (“I choose as Supreme Pontiff”). The ballots are gathered together and burned at the end of the morning and afternoon sessions, with smoke pouring from a makeshift chimney above the Sistine Chapel. 

Black smoke indicates inconclusive votes, while white smoke tells the outside world that a pope has been chosen. 

The great bell of St. Peter’s Basilica will ring out as an additional sign that a new pope has been elected. 

After a pope is chosen, a senior cardinal appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and announces in Latin: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam.” That translates to: “I announce to you great joy. We have a pope.”

The cardinal then identifies the new pope by his given name, with his first name translated into its Latin version, and then announces the papal name, also in Latin, the new leader of the church has chosen. 

The papal names most often chosen have been John (23 times), Gregory (16), Benedict (16), Clement (14), Innocent (13), Leo (13) and Pius (12).