A New Chance for Cardinal Becciu?

According to the Vatican News website, on September 24, 2020, a statement from the Holy See confirmed that "the Holy Father has accepted the resignation from his office as Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from his rights as a cardinal presented by His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu."

The cardinal was then in the dock in the "trial of the century" for the London building affair, and was sentenced to five and a half years in prison. However, he continues to maintain his innocence, has appealed, and remains free. This is how he was able to participate with all the cardinals present in Rome—electors and non-electors alike—in the first general congregation.

But Cardinal Becciu is back in force, asking to be included in the conclave. He had been removed from the list of cardinal electors since his resignation, but he asserts that this list has no legal value in an interview with L'Unione Sarda. He offers arguments to support his point of view.

He explains that the late Pope summoned him to the last consistory on December 7, 2024, and concludes: "By recalling me to the last consistory, the Pope recognized as intact my prerogatives as a cardinal." He adds that there was no "explicit desire on the part of the Argentine Pontiff to oust him from the conclave nor any request for an explicit written renunciation from him."

Does Cardinal Becciu have any chance of participating in the conclave?

According to current norms, cardinals "canonically deposed or those who have resigned, with the consent of the Roman Pontiff, from the cardinalate" do not have the right to vote in a conclave. Furthermore, upon the death of the Pope, the College of Cardinals does not have the power to "readmit or rehabilitate them."

But according to Patrick Valdrini, a French canon lawyer interviewed by the I.MEDIA agency, the legal uncertainty surrounding Cardinal Becciu's deposition could work in his favor. "His participation in the conclave depends on the legal basis of the act that stripped the cardinal of his cardinal rights," he explains. And he adds: "It seems that there was no canonical act, apart from the scene described in the newspapers."

The expert therefore foresees a sustained "legal battle," supported by canon lawyers who have defended the deposed cardinal. He believes the solution to this standoff lies with the College of Cardinals. "This will have to be addressed and decided in a general congregation," he assures.

If the cardinals were to decide to include him among the ranks of electors for Francis's successor, the number would reach 136. Cardinal Becciu would become one of Italy's 18 cardinal electors – currently set at 17.