Vatican Cardinal Resigns After Major Real Estate Scandal Surfaces

The former No. 2 in the Vatican's secretariat of state Angelo Becciu was reportedly implicated in a financial scandal involving the Vatican's investment in a London real estate deal that has lost the Holy See millions of euros in fees paid to middlemen.

According to the one-sentence announcement, Pope Francis had accepted Becciu's resignation as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints “and his rights connected to the cardinalate."

No Further Details on Becciu's Resignation

Several Vatican officials and the middlemen were placed under investigation by the Vatican prosecutor, however, Becciu wasn’t. The former cardinal defended the original investment durability and denied any wrongdoing. Thus, it's not clear whether the scandal itself was behind his resignation or possibly sparked a separate line of inquiry.

The last time a cardinal’s rights were removed was in July 2018 when the American Theodore McCarrick renounced his rights and privileges as a cardinal amid a sexual abuse investigation. As a result, McCarrick was subsequently defrocked.

In 2015, the late Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien relinquished the rights and privileges of being a cardinal after unidentified priests alleged sexual misconduct. However, O’Brien was allowed to retain the cardinal’s title and he died a member of the College of Cardinals.

The Vatican let Becciu remain a cardinal without any rights and the Holy See identified him as “His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Becciu.”

In 2014 the Vatican signed a real estate venture investing over $200 million in a fund run by an Italian businessman. The deal gave the Holy See 45% of the luxury building at 60 Sloane Ave. in London’s Chelsea neighborhood.

In November 2018, after Becciu had left the secretariat of state, the Holy See decided to exit the fund, end its relationship with the businessman and buy out the remainder of the building. However, the mortgage was too burdensome and it caused financial issues to the Vatican.

Angelo Becciu insisted he wasn’t in power during the 2018 buyout deal and always acted in the sole interests of the Holy See. According to his former boss, Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the whole matter was “opaque" and needed to be clarified.