Vatican conclave to decide whether convicted cardinal can vote for new pope

Cardinals attend the procession of the body of Pope Francis at St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday. About 135 cardinals are currently eligible to take part in the conclave. File photo: AP/Alessandra Tarantino

Cardinals in meetings ahead of the start of a secret conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis are scratching the hair under their red skull caps as they try to decide whether a cardinal convicted of embezzlement and fraud can join in the vote.

Their quandary concerns Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who in December 2023 was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail. He was the most senior Catholic Church official ever to stand trial before a Vatican criminal court.

Becciu has denied all wrongdoing and is appealing the court's ruling. The Italian cardinal, who is free pending his appeal, confirmed on Thursday night that he felt he should be allowed into the conclave.

His complex legal standing in Church law goes back to the night of September 24, 2020, when Francis summoned Becciu to his residence and summarily fired him from the job as head of the Vatican department that decides who will be saints, as the cardinal recounted.

Francis bluntly accused a shocked Becciu of nepotism and embezzlement, saying: "I no longer have trust in you."

The pope allowed Becciu to keep his ecclesiastical title and his Vatican apartment but stripped him of what the Vatican said were "the rights associated with the Cardinalate".

At the time, Becciu said this included losing the right to take part in a future conclave.

Under Church law, cardinals under the age of 80 can enter the Sistine Chapel for a secret conclave where they cast their votes under the gaze of a severe God depicted in Michelangelo’s Last Judgement fresco behind the main altar.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail in December 2023 for embezzlement and fraud. He has denied all wrongdoing and is appealing the court's ruling. File photo: AP/Andrew Medichini

The conclave is not expected to start before May 6.

About 135 cardinals are currently eligible to take part. On its website, the Vatican lists the 76-year-old Becciu as a "non-elector," lumping him with those who have reached the age of 80.

Becciu told L'Unione Sarda, the main newspaper on his native island of Sardinia, that the Vatican list of non-eligible cardinals "has no legal value" that there had been "no explicit willingness" to bar him from the conclave and that he had never been asked to formally renounce the privilege in writing.

Becciu said he did not know if the pope had left any written instructions about his situation.

In briefings since the pope died on Monday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni has repeatedly declined to answer questions about Becciu's position, suggesting he may tackle the topic after Francis' funeral on Saturday.