Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 14, 2025

Cardinal challenges Vatican cop over hostage payments

Cardinal challenges Vatican cop over hostage payments

The Vatican’s fraud and corruption trial took a dramatic twist Wednesday when a once-powerful cardinal challenged the Vatican’s police commissioner on the stand about one of the more peculiar tangents of the case: the Vatican’s half-million euro payments to a self-styled security analyst who, with Pope Francis’ blessing, helped arrange negotiations for the release of a nun held hostage by Islamic militants.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu made a spontaneous declaration to the Vatican tribunal during the interrogation of Commissioner Stefano De Santis, a top officer in the Vatican gendarmes police force and a key prosecution witness. De Santis was one of the primary investigators in the probe that led to the trial over the Holy See’s 350 million euro investment in a London property venture and related cases.

Vatican prosecutors have accused 10 people, including Becciu, of a host of alleged financial crimes and of fleecing the Holy See of tens of millions of euros in fees, commission and other losses.

De Santis was being questioned about one of the tangents of the London property deal, concerning Becciu’s relations with the security analyst, Cecilia Marogna.

Becciu, who was the No. 3 in the Vatican secretariat of state at the time, has previously told the court that he hired Marogna in 2015 as an external security consultant and subsequently involved her in negotiations to hire a British security firm to negotiate the release of a Colombian nun being held hostage in Mali by al-Qaida-linked militants.

Becciu told the court in May that Francis had authorized spending up to 1 million euros to free the nun, who was eventually let go last year, though he stressed it wasn’t ransom.

De Santis told the court that the Vatican gendarmes learned via Interpol in 2020 that Marogna’s Slovenia-based company had received 575,000 euros in nine separate wire transfers from the secretariat of state for purportedly “humanitarian” endeavors, but that the money was being used to pay for cosmetics and other high-end luxury goods.

He said he and the Vatican’s police chief went to Becciu’s apartment on Oct. 3, 2020 at the cardinal’s request and informed him what they had discovered.

De Santis told the court that Becciu begged them to not let word of the Marogna payments get out, saying it would harm him and his family, and offered to refund the money from his account at the Vatican bank.

Becciu took issue with De Santis’ version of events in his spontaneous address to the court, and reminded the three-judge panel of his previous testimony: that the payments for the hostage negotiation had been agreed upon with Francis and that only he and the pope knew about them, w ith the Vatican gendarmes intentionally kept in the dark.

Becciu told the court that he didn’t request the meeting and found it odd that De Santis would reveal its contents since the police officers had told him at the time that it had to remain secret since there were professional implications about revealing the contents of an ongoing investigation.

Becciu said he was indeed anguished to learn that Vatican police were investigating Marogna, but said his anguish had nothing to do with his family but rather the fact that Francis and he had hoped to keep the hostage negotiations secret.

Becciu is accused of abuse of office and alleged embezzlement for having sent 125,000 in Holy See funds to a Sardinian charity run by his brother. Marogna is accused of fraud and embezzlement. Both deny wrongdoing.

The trial, which resumed late last month after a summertime pause, has picked up pace and has nearly 20 hearings scheduled before the end of the year. Prosecutors have nearly 30 witnesses and lawyers for the 10 defendants have dozens more, including the current Vatican No. 2 and 3.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
×