Convicted Italian cardinal says he will not enter conclave to elect new pope

VATICAN CITY – An Italian cardinal who was convicted of embezzlement and fraud said on April 29 he will not take part in the secret conclave to elect the new pope.

Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the most senior

Catholic Church official ever to stand trial

before a Vatican criminal court, said in a statement he would not enter the conclave.

Cardinal Becciu was sentenced to 5½ years in jail by a Vatican court in December 2023. He denies all wrongdoing and is free pending an appeal.

“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 the cardinal.

Pope Francis, who died on April 21

, had fired Cardinal Becciu from a senior Vatican job in 2020 and accused him of embezzlement.

The Pope allowed him 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”.

The wording of that statement had left questions about whether Cardinal Becciu could still enter the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor.

The world’s Catholic cardinals, who are meeting this week to discuss general matters facing the global Church before voting on the new pope, were known to have discussed what to do about Cardinal Becciu’s case.

The conclave is due to start on May 7. REUTERS