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An Italian court has dismissed Cardinal Angelo Becciu’s claims that unfavourable media coverage cost him the opportunity to be pope at the next Conclave.
He has tried and failed twice to convince the court of his entitlement.
Not only have Becciu’s claims been dismissed, but he has been ordered to pay thousands in damages and court costs to Italian newsmagazine L’Espresso.
Becciu filed the lawsuit against L’Espresso in November 2020.
His foray into the court came just weeks after Pope Francis sacked him from his curial positions and ordered him to resign his rights as a cardinal.
In his lawsuit, Becciu claimed L’Espresso’s coverage of the financial scandal at the Secretariat of State had contributed unfairly to the pope’s decision to fire him.
The media damaged his reputation so badly, Becciu told the court it would cost him the chance of being elected pope in a future conclave.
He sought 10 million euros in damages from L’Espresso.
The court has not stated exactly what Becciu said in his case, or how much he will have to pay in costs.
This is Becciu’s second legal setback in as many weeks.
A losing streak
Becciu’s attempts to prove his entitlement to compensation via Italy’s legal system isn’t working.
Earlier this month, a court in Como ordered him to pay nearly 50,000 euros in legal costs and damages. That judgement was the outcome of a lawsuit he filed against his former deputy at the Vatican Secretariat of State, Msgr Alberto Perlasca.
The Como court had already rejected Becciu’s suit last December.
It picked up the case again this month, with a secondary ruling, where the judge found Becciu liable for abusing the legal process in trying to sue Perlasca.
Perlasca is the star witness for the prosecution in Vatican City, where Becciu is one of ten defendants on trial for financial crimes.
Becciu sought half a million euros from Perlasca. He claimed his former deputy’s cooperation with Vatican investigators caused injury to his (Becciu’s) health and lifestyle.
The Como court ruled last year there was “no concrete harmful conduct in the plaintiff’s narrative”.
It found Becciu’s claims of harm “completely lacking in any … quantification” that would justify the damages he sought.
This month the court directed Becciu to pay 40,000 euro in court costs to Perlasca and a friend of Perlasca’s named in Becciu’s lawsuit. He was also ordered to pay Perlasca 9,000 euros in damages.
The Vatican City trial
In the ongoing Vatican City trial, Becciu is accused of abuse of office, embezzlement and conspiracy. He is also charged with attempting to suborn Perlasca’s testimony.
In leaked footage of Perlasca’s interviews with Vatican prosecutors, he confirmed that, acting on Becciu’s instructions, he helped arrange over half a million euros in money transfers to Cecilia Marogna.
Marogna, a self-styled geo-political analyst, claims to have been Becciu’s personal spy at the Secretariat of State.
Perlasca also said he prepared an envelope with about 15,000 euros in money transfers for Becciu, who told him Francis had approved them.
He said Becciu “became very angry” with him for discussing the transfers and had demanded to know why he had not deleted records of the transactions from secretariat records.
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