Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was stripped of his prerogatives as cardinal-elector by Pope Francis in September 2020, has said that the Pontiff invited him to the upcoming meeting of all the world’s cardinals (August 29-30), and that he intended to reinstate him in the College of Cardinals. These remarks were reported by the Italian press on August 22, 2022. The Vatican press office declined to comment when contacted by I.Media.
According to the Unione Sarda, the former substitute of the Secretariat of State announced plans to attend the August 27 consistory, as well as the meeting that will follow, during a Mass in Golfo Aranci, Sardinia, on August 21.
“On Saturday,” Cardinal Becciu said, “the pope called me to tell me that I would be reinstated as a cardinal and to ask me to attend a meeting of all the cardinals that will be held in the next few days in Rome.”
The Sardinian cardinal is currently charged with embezzlement, abuse of power in an organized group, and witness tampering, at the heart of a trial conducted by the Vatican Tribunal, but he has not stopped claiming his innocence.