The humiliation of Becciu and the return of Pell

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🗓️ 5 October 2020

⏱️ 24 minutes

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Summary

The Vatican is in the grip of a paranoia reminiscent of the days when Renaissance popes (and their dinner guests) were forced to employ food-tasters.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, until 2018 the sostenuto at the Secretariat of State – that is, the Pope's hugely powerful chief of staff – has been sacked by Francis, who has accused him of stealing vast amounts of money. The Pope, who once showered him with favours, stripped Becciu of all the privileges associated with the position of cardinal – a twist of the knife worthy of a Netflix drama, or perhaps one of the Godfather films.

And now, in an equally extraordinary sequel, Becciu's arch-foe Cardinal George Pell, until recently languishing in an Australian jail cell, is heading back to Rome to advise Francis on resuming the Pell financial reforms that Becciu torpedoed.

Damian Thompson's guest for this episode of Holy Smoke is the journalist who can take the most credit for uncovering Becciu's activities: Ed Condon, Washington Bureau Chief of the Catholic News Agency.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You can subscribe to The Spectator for 12 weeks for only 12 pounds for our print and online editions,
0:06.0	plus get six months of digital access free to the Telegraph.
0:10.0	Go to spectator.co.uk forward slash telegraph.
0:14.0	Welcome to Holy Smoke, the Spectator's Religion podcast. I'm Damien Thompson.
0:23.6	What an amazing week this has been in the Vatican.
0:33.6	The Pope has sacked Cardinal Angelo Betchew, who until 2018 was his chief of staff
0:42.0	and most trusted associate. Betchu has not only lost his current job, but has been stripped of the
0:48.2	rights and dignities of a cardinal, and he is spitting with fury. Meanwhile, Betu's old adversary, Cardinal George Pell, who until recently was in an Australian jail,
0:59.0	is coming back to Rome to help the Pope complete financial reforms that Betchu had thwarted
1:06.0	while allegedly lining his own pockets to an extraordinary degree.
1:10.0	The Netflix screenplay is the journalist who has done more than any other
1:14.6	to bring to light Angelo Betho's frankly villainous activities.
1:19.6	He's Ed Conlon, Washington Bureau Chief of the Catholic News Agency.
1:25.6	Ed, it has been a truly extraordinary week in Rome. It's been
1:31.4	described as the most extraordinary and disorientating since Benedict resigned. We've seen Cardinal
1:37.4	Angelo Betchew, who was previously the Pope's chief of staff, stripped of the rights and privileges
1:43.3	of a Cardinal, and accused
1:45.4	personally by the Pope of embezzling money and funneling it towards his family, humiliated
1:51.5	in the most astonishing manner. And then as soon as the first act of this extraordinary drama
1:57.1	played out, and Cardinal Pell, who a year ago was in jail, who had previously been in
2:02.7	charge of reforming the Vatican and who had locked horns with Betchu, has said that he's coming back
2:08.3	to Rome. In fact, has been asked back to Rome by the Pope, essentially to continue in some shape
	...

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