Bribes, nepotism and spies: the plot that makes the Vatican tremble

The Vatican has turned its latest scandals into a true

starring cardinals, financial sharks and mysterious ladies who play spies and spend thousands of euros from the Holy See destined to aid developing countries on luxury items.

At the center of the intrigue is this time Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was one of the most powerful men in the Vatican - he was in all the pools for the next conclave - and custodian of a large part of the secrets of the millenary institution.

It is now their miseries that are coming to light in an open grave hunt: nepotism, an alleged bribery of a group of victims to accuse a rival cardinal of child abuse, embezzlement ... But the fan has been activated and Becciu He is not just any prelate.

Nobody knows how an investigation and crossfire that threatens to leave the process of intrigue and corruption, known as

, which ended up costing the resignation of the previous pontiff, Benedict XVI.

The crows have returned to the Vatican and this time they fly around the red cap of Giovanni Angelo Becciu (Pattada, 72 years old), who was a substitute for the Secretary of State in Ratzinger's time and survived the purge of Francis upon his arrival.

A position of enormous importance - equivalent to number 3 in the hierarchy - that takes care of the operation of the Vatican's engine room and that gives access to all the secrets of the Holy See.

On his arrival in 2013, Francisco liquidated the number 1 of that department, the controversial Secretary of State of Benedict XVI, Tarcisio Bertone (who among other things built a 700-square-meter attic in 2014 that was paid for with funds from a children's hospital) , already part of its environment.

All of them were identified as causing part of the scandals;

Ratzinger came to describe them as "wolves".

But Becciu, of a finesse and subtlety far above the average, exquisite plumber of the Holy See, survived as number 2 of the Secretary of State and became one of the most trusted people of Francisco.

“He was the only one who told him things as they were.

And the Pope trusted him a lot, ”says a Vatican source who dealt a lot with both.

From 2013 to 2018, Becciu dealt with the most sensitive matters of the Secretary of State and dealt with the biggest scandals of the 20th century, including the historic resignation of Benedict XVI.

Prepared, clever, quick and with an extremely flexible political sense trained in different nunciatures, he created a legion of faithful within the walls.

But he also made great enemies who waited for an opportunity like this for

.

Becciu controlled the accounts, prevented some from snooping too much when it did not suit him - such as the auditor Libero Milone, who was fired in strange circumstances - and jealously guarded the Vatican communication from the Secretary of State.

But Francisco relieved him in 2018 - he appointed Venezuelan Edgar Peña Parra instead - and placed him as Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

A sort of upward kick that detracted from him, but kept him likely to be the object of divine providence's desire at the next conclave.

After 40 years, there is a feeling in the Vatican that the next pope should be Italian (the last was John Paul I, who died in strange circumstances in 1978 after 33 days of papacy), and Becciu was one of the best placed.

It was only until the scandals began.

The first problem came when last year his intervention in the sale of a property in Sloane Square, the London neighborhood of Chelsea, became known.

The Secretary of State authorized in 2013 the investment in a fund that owned a building that had been the headquarters of the Harrod's department store, but the financial network forced over the years to increase the capital so as not to lose the investment.

The sum reached 300 million euros, an increase that the Vatican Bank - another of the organs at war with the old Secretary of State - had to authorize and denounce when the alarms of a possible money laundering went off.

Sources close to Becciu explain that the cardinal always acted in good faith so that the savings of the Holy See had a return.

The head of the Gendarmerie, the historic Domenico Giani, fell.

Also, five of his closest collaborators were arrested and fired at once without waiting for the trial.

One of them, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, decided to collaborate with the Vatican justice system and has begun to reveal alleged corrupt operations of his former boss.

From this source emanate the new scandals.

The Pope's call to order to Becciu occurred on September 24 for reasons unknown until then.

The Pope asked him for explanations at a high-tension audience, but he was not convinced and asked him to renounce his cardinal rights - something that only happened three times in 120 years - and the ownership of his dicastery.

According to the revelations, allegedly made by his collaborators, the cardinal had favored several brothers by commissioning work in the nunciatures for which he was responsible (in Angola and Cuba) and authorizing the transfer of about 100,000 euros to the cooperative of one of his brothers.

According to the cardinal's version, the money was delivered for an emergency, but it is still in the NGO box.

The communication department of the Holy See did not give a single explanation and waited for the crows, with due leaks, to devour the prelate.

Possible bribery

The real motives, however, went beyond what was reported.

On Tuesday night, under an international arrest warrant coordinated by Interpol, the already known in the Italian media as "lady of the cardinal" was arrested.

This is Cecilia Marogna, 39 years old and head of an intelligence agency based in Slovenia whom Becciu had hired and transferred up to 500,000 euros for alleged diplomatic and intelligence missions.

Part of that money, she has recognized herself, was used to buy luxury items: 12,000 euros for a Frau armchair;

2,200 euros in Prada products, 1,400 in Tod's or 8,000 in Chanel.

"Perhaps the bag was for the wife of a Nigerian friend who could speak to the president of Burkina Faso," she defended.

In the Domani newspaper, Marogna also assured that part of that money was her fees and that she spent them as she wanted: "I am not a missionary, I do not work for free."

Becciu's virulent hunt is not over.

His old rivals, such as the dismissed prefect for communication, Monsignor Dario Viganó, celebrated his fall without shame in a statement.

Others, such as Cardinal George Pell, who the Pope had commissioned to reform Vatican finances and who always considered that the Sardinian prelate was an obstacle to his mission, launched heavy artillery.

The Australian cardinal, through his lawyer, has asked for an investigation into the alleged sending of funds from the Vatican to buy the will of some of the witnesses who accused him of abusing minors and which led to his imprisonment for more than a year ( in the end he was acquitted).

Becciu, of course, has denied it.

But it is a further twist to the fierce power struggles in the Vatican, which if confirmed, would set a precedent never seen before in an institution that has witnessed all kinds of conspiracies, alleged assassinations and that, 40 years later, He continues to search even the bones of a missing girl within its walls.

Cardinal Angelo Giovanni Becciu

A former substitute for the Vatican Secretariat of State (the second in the engine room of the Holy See), he is the protagonist of the story that has made the Vatican tremble.

He was deprived by the Pope of all his rights as a cardinal on September 24 (he will not be able to participate in the conclave that elects the next Pope).

He is accused, without a trial yet and with evidence only leaked to the press, of having misappropriated funds, of nepotism and of favoring a mysterious woman whom he hired to mount a parallel diplomacy.

In addition, he participated in the expensive sale of a luxury property in London with funds destined for charity.

He was one of the most powerful cardinals and his name was in the pools of the next conclave.

Cecilia Marogna

39-year-old international relations expert and Sardinian like Cardinal Becciu.

The cardinal allegedly transferred up to 600,000 euros in funds reserved to carry out secret diplomatic missions and protect nunciatures in risk areas.

Part of that money was spent on luxury items such as Prada bags or a 12,000-euro armchair, as she herself acknowledged.

Cardinal George Pell

A great rival of Becciu, he was appointed by Francis to reform Vatican finances.

He did not finish his term when he was charged, tried and convicted in Australia for child abuse.

Finally a jury acquitted him after spending several months in jail.

There is an open investigation to find out if someone from the Vatican (his surroundings suspect Becciu) transferred money to Australia to bribe the trial witnesses who accused him of the abuses.

He has been rehabilitated by the Pope.

Libero Milone

The Pope hired an external auditor (former Deloitte president) to oversee the Vatican accounts in May 2015. Two years later, he was arrested and abruptly fired after trying to pry into the accounts of the Secretary of State that he controlled with the hand of iron Cardinal Becciu.

He was charged with espionage.

The cardinal himself assured two weeks ago that Milone crossed some limits, such as the accounts of the Secretary of State, where he was prohibited from entering.

Monsignor Alberto Perlasca

He was the custodian for years of the safe of the Secretariat of State (the Vatican's engine room).

Cardinal Becciu's right arm was arrested - along with four other men from the Secretary of State - in the framework of the operation for the ruinous sale of a property in London.

Now he has decided to contribute documentation and confessions to the story.

Raffaele Mincione

Financial shark linked to a fund called Athena Capital to which the Vatican transferred some 200 million euros from the Obolus of St. Peter for charity.

Cardinal Becciu approved the operation, which was intended to be an investment to make the accumulated funds profitable.

Gianluigi torzi

Broker who mediated between the Vatican and the property in London that the Holy See ended up buying for more than 300 million euros with funds, allegedly destined for charity.

He is accused of extorting the Vatican and was arrested for eight days.

He pocketed 15 million from the Holy See for the intermediation.