Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez was kidnapped by the Macina Liberation Fronta group linked to Al Qaeda in Mali, in February 2017.
Becciu testified that Cecilia Marogna, who is also a defendant in the trial, put him in touch with a London-based intelligence and risk company in 2018 to find a way to seek his freedom.
The cardinal said he told Pope Francis that the operation, including the establishment of a “network of contacts” and an eventual rescue, would cost a maximum of around one million euros.
“He approved. I must say that every phase of that operation was approved by the Holy Father,” Becciu testified.
Becciu, who was undersecretary of state between 2011 and 2018, is accused of embezzlement, abuse of authority and inducing a witness to perjury. He denies all charges.
The cardinal said that a special account was opened for the operation in the Vatican Secretariat of State and that the payments were made to the accounts indicated by Marogna. He also maintained that the intelligence company established direct contact with the kidnappers.but did not say whether a ransom was paid.
The cardinal said the deal was kept secret even from the Vatican’s security chief at the time because any leak would have sparked international criticism and “endangered the lives and safety of other missionaries.”
Marogna is accused of embezzlement. She also denies any wrongdoing.
The indictment issued in July said that he had received some 575,000 euros in 2018-2019 from the Secretary of State. Prosecutors accused her in July of using much of it for “personal gain,” including buying luxury items, charges she denied.
“Offensive Innuendos”
The pope fired Becciu from another Vatican position in 2020, accusing him of nepotism in favor of his brothers, a charge he also denies.
Two months ago, Francis lifted Becciu’s “pontifical secrecy” oath so he could answer questions related to Marogna and the nun’s kidnapping.
Becciu ran into trouble with the Italian media, which has dubbed Marogna “the cardinal’s lady.”
The cardinal told the court that his relationship with Marogna had been “distorted, with offensive innuendos, of an infamous character, prejudicial to my priestly dignity.”
The trial mainly revolves around the purchase by the Vatican Secretariat of State of a building in an elegant area of London with an investment of some 350 million euros from 2014.
But the deal went wrong and the Vatican lost 217 million euros. Vatican prosecutors charged two Italian brokers with extortion.
During Thursday’s seven-hour hearing, Vatican prosecutor Alessandro Diddi questioned Becciu about other aspects of the deal, the cardinal’s institutional relationships with other Vatican officials and which banks the Vatican used.
Other defendants in the trial include former Vatican officials charged with embezzlement and various other financial crimes related to the real estate business. All have denied any wrongdoing.
Source: Ambito
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