THE Pope Francis was recorded secretly by a third person, at the time when he was talking to one cardinalwho is being prosecuted for embezzling money from the Vatican, with the trial ongoing.
As it states CNNthe Vatican court heard the recording between Pope Francis and of Cardinal Angelo Becciua defendant in the trial, in which the cardinal is asking the pope to confirm that he had approved payments to help free a nun kidnapped in Africa.
Journalists were not allowed to listen to the recording, but Italian news agency Adnkronos later published a transcript from the Italian Economic Police. Also, three defense lawyers in the trial later confirmed the content of the conversation to Vatican reporters who were present.
The recording was made by a third party and took place on July 24, 2021. The call it took place three days before the start of the trial at the Vaticanin which Becciu is accused of embezzlement and abuse of office and just 10 days after Pope Francis was released from the hospital for bowel surgery.
In the call, Bequio asks the pope to confirm that he had authorized the payments made by the cardinal to a self-proclaimed security consultant named Cecilia Marogna – who is also accused of embezzlement in the trial – to in turn pay the British company Inkerman, with the aim of freeing the nun who had been kidnapped by Islamic militants in Mali in 2017, the transcript says .
The sums paid, according to Cardinal Bequio, who was at the time number two in the Vatican secretariat, were €350,000 to the British company and €500,000 in ransom for the nun.
“You gave me the authorization or not to begin operations to free the nun?’ Bequio asks in the call, according to a transcript published by Italian media. According to CNN, the pope said in the call that he did not remember the incident and asked the cardinal to put his request in writing.
The nun, who was taken hostage in 2017 by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists, released in Mali in October 2021.
Source: News Beast
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