VATICAN, 15 Jan. 23 (ACI Press).-
During the last session of the judicial process against Cardinal Angelo Becciu, an exchange of letters between Pope Francis and the Cardinal was made public, in which the Cardinal expressed his anger at a meeting that the Holy Father had held with one of his accusers.
The Vatican Tribunal met on Friday, January 13, for a new hearing of the trial against Cardinal Angelo Becciu and 9 other defendants for crimes of embezzlement, fraud and abuse of office.
During this last session, some letters between Pope Francis and Cardinal Becciu last summer were made public.
In his letter, the Cardinal, accused of alleged corruption during his tenure as Substitute for the Vatican Secretary of State, shows his disagreement with the meeting that the Holy Father had with Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, who is part of the accusation.
Francesca Chaoqui was an advisor to the Vatican body created to clean up the accounts of the Holy See and improve its performance.
In July 2016, she was sentenced to 10 months in prison for collaborating with Father Lucio Ángel Vallejo Valda in the dissemination of confidential documents of the Holy See.
The letter was sent to Pope Francis on August 19, 2019, and in it Cardinal Becciu expresses his “deep dismay at the publication of the photos in which Mrs. Chaouqui is seen authorized to greet him during yesterday’s audience.” .
Becciu expressed his disagreement with said meeting, especially after the same Pontiff refused to pardon Chaouqui.
In the letter, the Cardinal also explains that “with yesterday’s kissing of hands I have been publicly denied and the lady will gain more strength to continue demolishing me with all the satanic means of which she is capable.”
“With yesterday’s gesture, Holy Father, you broke your much-proclaimed commitment to neutrality in the process,” the cardinal said sternly.
For Cardinal Becciu, the fact that the Holy Father received the Italian woman shows “solidarity with her and indirect support for her accusatory thesis against me.”
“In procedural terms, his act will not be seen as coming from the Pope, but rather from the First Magistrate of the legal system of the Vatican State, and therefore as interference in the process,” warned the Cardinal.
On his part, the reply that the Holy Father sent to the Cardinal was also made known:
“Dear brother,
Thank you very much for the email from him.
I am sorry that this gesture of greeting may have hurt you. They asked me if the Lady could come with her children to the General Audience and have a hand kiss…, and I thought that if it did her good, she would come.
So, I tell you that I have almost forgotten the “adventure” of this Lady. I don’t even know if she’s implicated in the trial (I won’t go into that).
I apologize and forgive you if this has offended and hurt you. It’s my fault, also the habit of forgetting the bad things. Please forgive me if I have offended you.
I pray for you, please do it for me.
May the Lord bless you and the Virgin keep you.
Fraternally,
Francisco”.
Before the trial session began on January 13, Chaouqui warned the press that she would tell “how the cardinal has alienated me from the Holy Father. And then, how the Holy Father has called me back and I have fought alongside him so that there is transparency, ”he assured.
