A cardinal convicted of embezzlement and fraud has agreed to withdraw from the conclave that will choose Pope Francis’ successor, ending a days-long standoff with the Vatican. Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu was a papal chief of staff and one of the most powerful men in the Vatican when he was accused in 2020 of financial crimes. Francis ordered him to resign the “rights and privileges” of a cardinal, and in 2023 he was sentenced by the Vatican’s criminal court to five and a half years in jail. But he remains free while he appeals his conviction and has argued he is eligible for the conclave, the millennia-old process of picking a new pope. The Vatican, however, had refused to list him as an “elector,” leading to days of drama that overshadowed the pre-conclave proceedings, the AP reported. The 76-year-old finally announced on Tuesday, “I have decided to obey, as I have always done, the will of Pope Francis not to enter the conclave, while remaining convinced of my innocence.” Italian media reported that Francis had signed two letters before he died saying Becciu shouldn’t participate in the conclave.
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