Becciu sues for 10 million euros on the grounds that he was "papabile"

Angelo Becciu the Vatican cardinal sacked by Pope Francis amid a corruption investigation is suing an Italian news magazine, claiming that his ruined reputation has eliminated his chances of becoming pope and will undermine the legitimacy of any future papal election.

In a simply astonishing display of entitled clerical careerism, Becciu is seeking 10 million euros ($11.9 million) in damages, to be given to charity, in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Sassari, Sardinia tribunal against L’Espresso magazine, the weekly affiliated with Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica.

Becciu resigned Sept. 24 as the prefect of the Vatican’s saint-making office after Francis presented him with allegations he had sent some 100,000 euros ($119,000) in Holy See funds to a Sardinian charity controlled by his brother. Becciu admitted he sent the funds to the charity- not his brother - and told reporters he had done nothing wrong.

Becciu at the time of the transfer was the No. 2 in the Vatican secretariat of state, and enjoyed full authority to manage the department’s substantial asset portfolio, including using it for charitable donations.

In his legal complaint, Becciu claimed that his ouster was a coordinated hit job with L’Espresso, which broke the story of the payment to his brother in a story that went to the printers Sept. 24.

The complaint alleges Francis had a copy of the magazine’s article on his desk during the Sept. 24 meeting at which he sacked Becciu, suggesting an internal leak of the article to the Vatican. The L’Espresso’s publisher has said some early editions “disappeared” from the printer that night and ended up on the pope’s desk.

The complaint also says that nearly eight hours before Becciu’s 6 p.m. meeting with Francis, L’Espresso created a webpage with an article entitled “This is why Cardinal Becciu resigned.” Citing the timestamp of the site’s metadata, the complaint argues that the magazine knew about Becciu’s ouster before he did, suggesting coordination with the Vatican.

L’Espresso has been leading the charge against Becciu, with a series of unsourced and speculative articles outlining prosecutors’ case against him, some of them citing unnamed Vatican investigators but others offering no attribution for the magazine’s claims.

The article in L'Espresso cleary thinks Becciu gives the publication too much credit in his complaint and states:

for Cardinal Becciu, the Roman pontiff, successor of the apostle Peter, vicar of Christ, would be a person who can be influenced, influenced, easily conditioned to such an extent that a journalistic article is enough to make him overturn the judgment on a trusted man.

The article continues:

if the cardinal has the curriculum so meticulously reported in the document of his lawyers and a mirrored image, why did Pope Francis decide to believe in a journalistic investigation and not him?

L'Espresso goes on to point out that the account given by Becciu in his legal complaint actually contradicts the account he gave at his impromptu press conference at Istituto Maria Bambina following his sacking.

On that occasion, Becciu said that as he entered the pope’s room at 6:02 p.m. (local time) for his usual weekly work report, “I felt a friend of the pope and a loyal servant of the pope.” But almost immediately Francis stunned him by telling him straight out: “I do not trust you anymore!”

The pope explained that the Vatican magistrates, based on an investigation by the Italian Finance Guards, had informed him that the cardinal had committed “a crime of embezzlement.” According to the magistrates, he said, the crime was committed during his tenure as “substitute in the Secretariat of State” or chief of staff, when he made a bank transfer for 100,000 euros ($116,000) from funds of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State to the Caritas organization in his home diocese of Ozieri in Sardinia for the benefit of a cooperative that is integrated with Caritas. It assists migrants and poor unemployed people and is run by Becciu's brother, who is the organisation's President. Becciu denies he was favouring his brother and claims the money was to help the diocese.

Obviously this can serve no purpose other than to further embarrass the Holy See & Pope Francis. On the face of it; what dreadful man management by the Pope!

But the most shocking thing is Becciu's sense of self-importance and entitlement! God save us from these wolves!