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Giovanni Angelo Becciu
Photo: Johannes Neudecker / dpa
Angelo Becciu is accused of embezzlement in the Vatican.
Now it turns out that he also secretly recorded a telephone conversation with Pope Francis.
In the July 2021 recording just before the start of his trial, the Italian cardinal asked the pope to confirm that he had approved funds to rescue a Colombian nun kidnapped in Mali, Italian media reported on Friday.
The phone call was therefore played at a hearing on Thursday.
"Did you give me permission to start the operations to free the nun, didn't you?" Becciu asked in the interview, according to media reports.
"We had set the ransom at 500,000, we didn't want more because it seemed immoral," Becciu continues.
"I think I briefed you on all this, remember?"
The pope reportedly said he "vaguely" remembered and asked Becciu to put his request in writing.
The conversation was recorded by a relative in Beccius' apartment.
The nun, who was taken hostage by jihadists linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Mali in 2017, was freed in October 2021.
Becciu had hired Cecilia Marogna, who was also accused, as security advisor.
According to the public prosecutor's office, she is said to have received 575,000 euros from the Vatican for the liberation of kidnapped priests and nuns abroad, which she spent on hotel accommodation and luxury items.
Becciu, once a close advisor to Pope Francis, was impeached in September 2020 over a financial scandal and forced to relinquish his cardinal privileges.
In addition to the misappropriation of funds in the case of the kidnapped clergy, it is also about the purchase of a luxury property in London by the Vatican.
In addition to Becciu, nine other defendants have to answer in court.
The allegations range from embezzlement and abuse of office to corruption.
Becciu denies all allegations.
dop/AFP
