"Becciu pontiff? It's fantasy religion but I wish it for him" - extraordinary woman at centre of Vatican scandal

Cecilia Marogna: "Becciu pontiff? It's fantasy religion but I wish it for him"

The former Sardinian manager sentenced in the first instance to 3 years and 9 months in the Vatican trial arising from the sale of the property on Sloane Avenue in London speaks out

Rome Cardinal Angelo Becciu elected Pope? «It's fantasy religion, they're already contesting his possibility of being present at the conclave... In any case, I would wish it for him». The speaker is Cecilia Marogna, the former Sardinian manager sentenced in the first instance to 3 years and 9 months in the Vatican trial arising from the sale of the property on Sloane Avenue in London. In particular, Marogna was convicted of aggravated fraud in conjunction with Becciu himself in relation to the case of 575 thousand euros paid to her company by the Secretariat of State for intelligence activities including the release of a nun kidnapped in Mali by jihadists. Money that instead, according to an accusation always rejected by the Vatican 'lady' and the former substitute of the Secretariat of State, would have been spent by the Cardinal's former collaborator on luxury goods.

The affair also ended up at the centre of a dramatic conversation between Pope Francis and Becciu: during the telephone call, which lasted just over five minutes, Bergoglio's tired voice can be heard responding to the ex-Substitute's requests, who asks him, among other things, if he remembers having authorized him to "start operations to free the nun".

While she does not believe in the possibility of Becciu becoming Pope, Marogna says she is convinced that in the end the Cardinal will be able to participate in the conclave. "There was no explicit will to exclude me from the Conclave nor a request for my explicit written resignation", the former Substitute claimed in recent days.

"In my opinion they will let him in - his former collaborator now says - because otherwise an important precedent would be created and his is a vote that is needed. Then, even if it is fantasy religion, as I call it, regardless of everything I would wish him to become Pope, because Becciu is a real priest. As a Nuncio in complicated places he has seen dramatic situations first-hand, in which the church is fundamental, but he has also been a leading government man, and, with his latest position, that of the congregation for the causes of Saints, he has established very important diplomatic relations...".

The former Sardinian manager says she is on "excellent terms with Becciu, although there have been several disagreements over time. Even during the trial phases, the defenses often made different choices - he explains - From the beginning, my defense team and I have denounced those who we believe did everything, but they didn't, they did it last week...".

Moreover, according to Marogna, in the trial "an accusatory system was built based on nothing that stained the Church" and "Bergoglio's successor will find himself with a hot potato to manage, it won't be easy". A situation that has dragged on for a long time: "In October it's been five years: there have been 86 hearings, they could have been halved. The reasons for the conviction arrived last October, we had been waiting for almost a year... In short, the timing has been extended, the situation remains suspended, we have the appeal in September", he adds.

Marogna also reveals that he met Bergoglio: "We met a long time ago", she says, adding: "He had given me confidence in the role that was entrusted to me". Certainly, she underlines, "he left his mark as Pope. I remember him as an unshakable person, who when he made a decision was that".

As for the Vatican trial, according to Marogna, the situation with the pontiff "got a bit out of hand: there were external interactions, manipulations, misinformation from people close to him... - he accuses - The fact is that Becciu at a certain historical moment - since he was created Cardinal, with a greater role in what would have been the next conclave - became cumbersome and inconvenient for many.... I am sure that if he had had the time, the Pope would have put this situation right which, as I see it, was also an attack on him... Indeed, it is said that he left instructions on the matter".

Also calling for the trial to be cancelled is Riccardo Sindoca, the lawyer of Cecilia Marogna who set up and coordinated the defence team of Becciu's former collaborator: "I hope that during this Jubilee the pontiff who will have inherited this regrettable judicial matter, in light of what has now emerged from the acts and in the primary interest of the Church and of all the faithful, will be able to put an end to it all with a single stroke of his hand, so as to definitively consign to history what are now the 'ashes' of the so-called 'trial of the century', which to date sees the very work of the Vatican judiciary in the dock", Sindoca's appeal.

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