“I hosted the Marogna, he was afraid to go to a hotel because of Covid”
VATICAN CITY. Eight hours of concise questions and answers by Assistant Justice Promoter Alessandro Diddi to Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the most prominent defendant in the Vatican trial over the Secretariat of State’s investments born of the sale of the building at 60 Sloane Avenue, in London. This was the 15th hearing that took place today, with the second part of the Sardinian cardinal’s hearing continuing tomorrow. But Becciu initially wanted to make it clear that he had no part in the resignation of then-Vatican Comptroller General Libero Milone on June 19, 2017. Last time, when asked, Becciu had used the ability not to answer “to protect the Holy Father.”
“I asked the Pope recently if I could speak freely, and he said yes – he then got in touch –. I would therefore like to briefly clarify what I know. I bear no responsibility for the resignation of Dr. milon I was just carrying out the orders of the Holy Father ». “The Pope called me – he continued -: ‘Excellency, I would like to ask you, Dr. Milone and tell him that he no longer enjoys the Holy Father’s trust and must resign. I called Milone myself in the morning and informed him of the Pope’s decision, the reasons being those then written in the statement of September 24, 2017 following Milone’s statements to the press. In short, Milone has unlawfully hired an outside firm “outside his competence” to conduct investigations into the private lives of exponents of Santa Sedè. I strongly emphasize that I had no role in the Holy Father’s decision ».
Becciu, part of the September 25, 2020 press conference shown in the hall, had to respond to the Pg via a series of documents following the shock hearing in which Pope Francis stripped him of his office in the Curia and the rights of cardinal the records of the administration of the funds, to which, however, acknowledging the need for great effort, he often replied: “I don’t remember”.
“It was the administrative office (that of Mons. Alberto Perlasca and Fabrizio Tirabassi) that prepared the dossiers for me and I limited myself to visits – explained the former Deputy General Affairs -. The office had to show me the pros and cons . He had a moral obligation not to get the manager in trouble. The duty also not to make the manager look bad. And if they presented me with something so beneficial, I signed it. It was their duty to respect the substitute’s decision facilitate “.
The climate in the classroom was very tense, with frequent bickering between the defense and the prosecution and the need on the part of President Giuseppe Pignatone to end the controversy. Next to the Palace of London, Becciu speaks of relations with the Diocese of Ozieri, of the alleged “misdirection denied with the proposal formulated by third parties to purchase the Palace of London (“I spoke to Prof. Gian Piero Milano, I said there is this Offer, a fund that wants to offer itself for this building. He said: “Maybe! Go ahead. If I had other purposes, would I have spoken to the promoter of justice about it? addresses the issue Cecilia Marogna and denies ever from Having spoken “ransom” for the Colombian nun kidnapped in Mali.
But he gives his version of the former Sardinian manager, in particular of her overnight stay in his house mentioned in the indictment file: “I am a loyal Manzoni reader. Do you remember Fra Cristoforo welcoming Lucia to the convent and replying to the disputes “Omnia munda mundis”? She came to me in the evening, we had to talk. It was getting late. When he left, the nuns who help me at home told me: ‘The lady is afraid to go to a hotel because there is Covid. Can we accommodate ‘ I said yes. I found her at breakfast the next morning and then she left. Things went like this ». At the beginning of the hearing, President Pignatone read out the ordinance, in part rejecting, in part accepting, the exceptions to the defense of the civil suit brought by the key witness Alberto Perlasca, who was admitted only on ID. Becciu for the crime of “subborning a witness” and instead dismissed the other defendants Tirabassi, Torzi, Crasso and Squillace for the fraud crime because they were – in his opinion – “misled” into signing the decree he left behind Torzi the thousand voting shares and control of the Sloane Avenue Building. (Fausto Gasparroni / ANSA)