Comments
neurochild t1_ixsxqtv wrote
Last paragraph of the article:
> Revelations of a secretly taped phone call and what Pope Francis knew about the Vatican’s financial transactions are just the latest in a long and complicated trial which centers on the Vatican’s purchase of a luxury building in London in which 10 defendants are accused of fraud and extortion.
So it seems (from this incomplete article) that the defendant, Becciu, is being investigated for some misuse of the Vatican's money (fraud and extortion). Since Francis fired Becciu in 2020 over this alleged misconduct, it may be that Francis and other Vatican higher-ups are trying to scapegoat Becciu, saying that Becciu's misuse of funds was unknown to Francis, who doesn't generally know the particulars of Vatican finances. If the Vatican is trying to scapegoat Becciu like this, Becciu could try to use this secret recording to prove that Francis does generally know about Vatican finances and therefore probably would have known about Becciu's alleged misconduct. Such a finding could be pretty bad for the Vatican.
fakerjohn t1_ixtafqf wrote
Really? That would be bad for the Vatican versus everything else we’ve heard the last … I dunno 50(?) years?
hotrthanhoochezcooch t1_ixu12ml wrote
Honestly once you’ve actively covered up systemic child rape idk how you devolve from that. Oh I suppose it’s misappropriating funds.
chadenright t1_ixtcgn5 wrote
Peasant kids losing their virginity to those in power at a young age is neither novel nor alarming...to those in power.
On the other hand, fraud and extortion by the Vatican against the wealthy and politically connected would absolutely provoke a policy change.
Having read the article, the recorded phonecall basically amounts to the ex-VP of finance asking the CEO, "Do you remember that I asked you to approve a budget," and the CEO going, "I recall something about a budget, please submit any requests for approval in writing."
Hardly damning of the pope, and a very very thin defense when the VP is arguing that "The CEO approved all of the illegal things I did because he approved of the budget for them."
neurochild t1_ixth5g8 wrote
> Peasant kids losing their virginity to those in power at a young age
this is called child rape
algun_de_torpedad t1_ixueuua wrote
If the Vatican's defense is that the Pope has nothing to do with financial stuff, then has him talking about financial stuff, then it's certainly something noteworthy.
Of course having someone sitting there recording the conversation doesn't make you think it was a natural conversation, and the Pope could have easily been taken aback over the questions and just didn't want to be rude by saying "bitch, what you talking about?" (that's how the Pope talks).
hotrthanhoochezcooch t1_ixu169e wrote
But it’s on tape. And it’s secret.
algun_de_torpedad t1_ixueo45 wrote
The law is actually pretty serious when it comes to money.
Those kids they raped, the nuns they kept as sex slaves, the unwed mothers they tortured and raped.......meh.
gandalf_el_brown t1_ixv36ub wrote
To the wealthy class, money has always been more important than human life
EatsFiber2RedditMore t1_ixtera8 wrote
Or, Or, here's a wild idea he was committing fraud and extortion against the Vatican and that's why he was tossed on his ass.
[deleted] t1_ixssxfz wrote
[deleted]
LoopyMcGoopin t1_ixswfwc wrote
As if the Catholic church has never been up to any evil shit.
EastBoxerToo t1_ixswz9t wrote
The Catholic Church has no problem with being evil. It's kind of their whole identity these days.
RobMuldoonsWight t1_ixt3p6l wrote
These days?. I can't imagine the thinking that the Catholic Church is worse now days than at any other point in history.
chadenright t1_ixtf3xb wrote
It's more about paying a $350,000 consulting fee to the company for them to hand over a $500,000 ransom, I think.
dontstabpeople42069 t1_ixy02w9 wrote
You don’t trick a bunch of people into thinking you are one step removed from god without being a little deceptive
Healthy-Upstairs-286 t1_ixu3qk1 wrote
Probably the call started sharing numbers of kids they raped last week.
kaleidoscopevoyager t1_ixsiqpx wrote
For the lazy:
#Pope Francis was secretly taped during phone call with cardinal, court hears
Pope Francis was secretly taped during a phone call with one of his cardinals, it emerged during an on-going financial trial at the Vatican on Thursday.
A Vatican court heard the audio recording between Pope Francis and Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a defendant in the trial, in which the Cardinal asks the Pope to confirm that he had authorized payments to help free a kidnapped nun in Africa.
Journalists were not allowed to listen to the recording but a transcript from the Italian Financial Police was subsequently published by Italian news agency Adnkronos. Three defense lawyers at the trial also later confirmed the contents of the conversation to Vatican journalists present.
The recording was made by a third party in the room with Cardinal Becciu during the phone conversation, which took place on July 24, 2021. The call occurred three days before the beginning of the Vatican trial in which Becciu is accused of embezzlement and abuse of office, and just 10 days after Francis was released from hospital for intestinal surgery.
In the call, Becciu asks the Pope to confirm that he had authorized the payments which the Cardinal made to a self-described security consultant named Cecilia Marogna – who is also charged with embezzlement in the trial – to in turn pay the British firm, Inkerman Group, to help secure the release of the nun who had been kidnapped by Islamic militants in Mali in 2017, the transcript states.
The amounts paid, according to Cardinal Becciu, who was at the time the number two at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, were 350,000 euros ($363,706 USD) to the British firm and 500,000 euros ($519,580 USD) in ransom for the nun.
According to the transcript, the Pope said on the call that he vaguely remembered and asks the cardinal to put in writing what he would like the Pope to confirm.
Under Vatican law there is no provision for a Pope to be called as a witness in a trial.
Cardinal Becciu, who was fired from his job and stripped of most of his rights as cardinal by Pope Francis in September 2020, has always maintained that any financial transactions he undertook were fully approved of by his superiors, including Pope Francis. Becciu and Marogna have both pleaded not guilty to all charges in the trial.
A statement from Becciu’s lawyers sent to CNN on Thursday did not comment on the secretly recorded phone call.
Revelations of a secretly taped phone call and what Pope Francis knew about the Vatican’s financial transactions are just the latest in a long and complicated trial which centers on the Vatican’s purchase of a luxury building in London in which 10 defendants are accused of fraud and extortion.
portia8711 t1_ixsppxw wrote
Thank you.
kaleidoscopevoyager t1_ixsr34w wrote
My pleasure
Dr-P-Ossoff t1_ixvgn6c wrote
Seems to me it would be cheaper and morally upright to hire rescue mercenaries.
Malf1532 t1_ixtuauv wrote
I was baptized and confirmed Catholic before I knew what was what. Once I got an inkling of the heart of the Catholic church was about and reached an age of reason, I put as much distance between it and me as I could.
Then I watched Warrior Nun and we're fucked without them. SEAL Team 666 better get ready!
Mastasmoker t1_ixuedq4 wrote
You mean you were groomed at a young age to be part of a community where priests prey on young children???
Wigu90 t1_ixssrt2 wrote
But does he use a pop socket?
AngoGablogian_artist t1_ixv17nx wrote
What’s a pederast Walter?
Hockeyhoser t1_ixuk0uh wrote
The Vatican is the FIFA of religions.
DeMalgamnated t1_ixtwqst wrote
he was taped saying
"i want to change the smoke colour to something more evilish and also i want more candles in the crypt to help me summon demons to do my bidding"
shaltysam t1_ixth9t6 wrote
The pope is so useless
Fiendsquatch t1_ixsq8mg wrote
I don't understand. A nun was kidnapped and the Pope allowed the funds to release her?? What's so wrong about this and why was the cardinal under scrutiny and stripped of job and title?
Anyone care to explain?