Bishop Corrado Melis of the Diocese of Ozieri.Prosecutors in Sardinia asked a court in January to indicate Bishop Corrado Melis and Antonio “Tonino” Becciu on charges they illegally siphoned off “8 per mille” funds — money from the system by which Italians taxpayers can allocate .8% of their annual income tax return to a recognized religious body or state run social assistance program Leave a comment A Sardinian magistrate on Monday formally indicted the defendants in a preliminary hearing in the island province’s capital Bishop Melis called the charges “one of the most painful and delicate pages in the history of our diocesan Church.” of pain for those who love this community and have dedicated their lives to it,” the bishop said in a letter to local Catholics my prayer does not doubt God’s love,” the bishop wrote the only certain thing about Jesus is the love of the Father: ‘Father if this cup cannot pass from me without my drinking Insisting on the “strangeness” of the charges I cannot keep quiet about the pain of injustice made even stronger by the perception that in the world of the courts investigations and trials (environments completely unknown to me) there is someone who has the power to make life impossible.” “This attitude is a cause of great bitterness for my life and many others involved,” the bishop said without explaining who supposedly had such power and might be unjustly using it against him Bishop Melis has been in recent years an outspoken advocate for the diocese’s most famous son who was convicted in 2023 by a Vatican City court of numerous financial crimes and handed a more than five year prison sentence which he is currently appealing Melis issued a public statement of support for Becciu calling the Vatican trial result a moment of “bitterness and disorientation” for local Catholics and spoke of his “immense suffering” in sympathy with Becciu “I am truly astonished and struck dumb by such harshness,” he said at the time Prosecutors have asked for the precautionary seizure of some 2 million euros they allege the bishop conspired to embezzle via the Spes Cooperative charity the funds originated with the Italian bishops’ conference and were sent to the Sardinian Diocese of Ozieri but channeled into Church charitable accounts controlled by Antonio Becciu and Fr Both Becciu and Curzu were repeatedly summoned to appear during the landmark Vatican financial crimes trial but refused to answer summons from the court which could have been used against them by Italian prosecutors Among the charges on which the cardinal was convicted he was found by judges to have embezzled Church funds by arranging for more than hundreds of thousands of euros to be sent to bank accounts controlled by his brother The cardinal said during the trial that he authorized an initial 100,000 euro loan later converted to a 50,000 euro donation from the Italian bishops’ conference because he was “excited” by his brother’s charitable work which one of which was made from a Vatican Secretariat of State account into his brother’s personal bank account and totaled 130,000 euros Becciu insisted that it is ordinary practice for Vatican funds to be deposited with individuals The cardinal was convicted for breaking Vatican City and canon laws prohibiting the alienation of Church funds or property to family members Italian financial police had identified forged delivery receipts for nearly 20 tons of bread, which was supposedly delivered to parishes by Spes for distribution to the poor. Vatican prosecutors told the court that their Italian counterparts had found the forged receipts among nearly 1,000 pages of paperwork they examined When the paperwork for the supposed deliveries was produced no one could recognize the signatures on the documents Italian financial police concluded that invoices were created just weeks before police searches and were fabricated to cover supposed deliveries dating back to 2018 Also among the indicted is Cardinal Becciu’s niece, Maria Luisa Zambrano, who in 2021 conspired with her uncle to secretly record a private telephone call between him and Pope Francis discussing Vatican state secrets. According to evidence presented in court during the cardinal’s trial, the call was recorded on Zambrano’s mobile telephone on July 24, 2021, just days before the opening of Becciu’s trial in Vatican City, and just a week after Francis underwent major surgery to remove parts of his colon. During the call, Becicu repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempted to record Pope Francis agreeing to Becciu’s narrative relating to some of his alleged crimes, and to excuse him from prosecution in relation to half a million euros of Church funds which he had sent to Cecilia Marogna, the “private spy” he employed, who apparently spent the money on luxury handbags and five-star resorts. . The conversation was recorded in Becciu’s apartment in the Palazzo San Ufficio, and without the pope’s knowledge or consent. ReplyShare2 replies10 more comments...LatestNo posts An Italian court has handed down indictments for both the Bishop of Ozieri and the brother of Cardinal Angelo Becciu on charges of embezzlement and money laundering. Bishop Corrado Melis of the Diocese of Ozieri.Prosecutors in Sardinia asked a court in January to indicate Bishop Corrado Melis and Antonio \u201CTonino\u201D Becciu on charges they illegally siphoned off \u201C8 per mille\u201D funds \u2014 money from the system by which Italians taxpayers can allocate .8% of their annual income tax return to a recognized religious body or state run social assistance program Leave a comment A Sardinian magistrate on Monday formally indicted the defendants in a preliminary hearing in the island province\u2019s capital Bishop Melis called the charges \u201Cone of the most painful and delicate pages in the history of our diocesan Church.\u201D of pain for those who love this community and have dedicated their lives to it,\u201D the bishop said in a letter to local Catholics my prayer does not doubt God\u2019s love,\u201D the bishop wrote the only certain thing about Jesus is the love of the Father: \u2018Father Insisting on the \u201Cstrangeness\u201D of the charges 3 that \u201Cas a citizen and a man of faith investigations and trials (environments completely unknown to me) there is someone who has the power to make life impossible.\u201D \u201CThis attitude is a cause of great bitterness for my life and many others involved,\u201D the bishop said Bishop Melis has been in recent years an outspoken advocate for the diocese\u2019s most famous son At the time of the cardinal\u2019s conviction Melis issued a public statement of support for Becciu calling the Vatican trial result a moment of \u201Cbitterness and disorientation\u201D for local Catholics and spoke of his \u201Cimmense suffering\u201D in sympathy with Becciu \u201CI am truly astonished and struck dumb by such harshness,\u201D he said at the time the funds originated with the Italian bishops\u2019 conference and were sent to the Sardinian Diocese of Ozieri but channeled into Church charitable accounts controlled by Antonio Becciu and Fr The cardinal said during the trial that he authorized an initial 100,000 euro loan later converted to a 50,000 euro donation from the Italian bishops\u2019 conference because he was \u201Cexcited\u201D by his brother\u2019s charitable work which one of which was made from a Vatican Secretariat of State account into his brother\u2019s personal bank account and totaled 130,000 euros Italian financial police had identified forged delivery receipts for nearly 20 tons of bread, which was supposedly delivered to parishes by Spes for distribution to the poor. Also among the indicted is Cardinal Becciu\u2019s niece, Maria Luisa Zambrano, who in 2021 conspired with her uncle to secretly record a private telephone call between him and Pope Francis discussing Vatican state secrets According to evidence presented in court during the cardinal\u2019s trial the call was recorded on Zambrano\u2019s mobile telephone on July 24 just days before the opening of Becciu\u2019s trial in Vatican City and just a week after Francis underwent major surgery to remove parts of his colon Becicu repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempted to record Pope Francis agreeing to Becciu\u2019s narrative relating to some of his alleged crimes and to excuse him from prosecution in relation to half a million euros of Church funds which he had sent to Cecilia Marogna who apparently spent the money on luxury handbags and five-star resorts The conversation was recorded in Becciu\u2019s apartment in the Palazzo San Ufficio and without the pope\u2019s knowledge or consent Subscribe now In the 1970s artist Aligi Sassu wanted to honor his Ozierese origins by donating a large fresco to the city which over the decades deteriorated due to weathering and was therefore recovered in 1998 through a mosaic intervention by specialized artisans indicated by the artist Inspired by the example of Mexican muralism as much in its compositional layout as in its didactic-social intent among the greatest exponents of twentieth-century Italian art represents a unicum in the Sardinian panorama With it Sassu infuses the history of Sardinia with a sense of universality the titan god of Greek mythology who bestows fire and wisdom on men who create civilization narrated by the artist with images from the history of Ozieri and important Ozierese figures such as Leonardo Tola Il marchio di Monumenti Aperti è tutelato dal Ministerodello Sviluppo Economico If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys trigger buttons and links using the Enter key navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus) and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible we are continually improving our accessibility updating and improving its options and features and developing and adopting new technologies All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility After being convicted on several counts of embezzlement of Vatican funds Cardinal Angelo Becciu gave a New Year’s Eve homily recommending the congregation draw up “a balance sheet” of one’s personal life before God who was sentenced to five and a half years in prison by the Vatican’s criminal court on Dec celebrated Christmas in his hometown on the Italian island of Sardinia and presided over a Mass in the Cathedral of the Blessed Immaculate Virgin of Ozieri on Dec “Recalling the past means drawing up a balance sheet of our personal lives before God without closing our eyes to the issues that grip the society in which we live both locally and universally,” Becciu said in his homily according to the Italian Catholic blog Korazym.org “It also means having a calm and practical look at that reality which we hold most dear: the Church of God,” he said The cardinal was also welcomed as a “guest of honor” at a celebratory dinner with the poor after the Mass by Bishop Corrado Melis of Ozieri who vehemently defended Becciu in a letter to his diocese after he was found guilty by a Vatican tribunal In addition to finding Becciu guilty of embezzlement of funds from the Vatican property deal in London judges in the Vatican trial also convicted the cardinal for using Vatican money to pay Cecilia Marogna a Sardinian woman who was employed by Becciu as a security consultant and of embezzlement for sending 125,000 euros of Vatican money to a charity run by his brother in Sardinia Becciu has denied all wrongdoing and his lawyers have announced that the cardinal will appeal the ruling in the Vatican’s yearslong finance trial.  the cardinal remains free as he awaits the appeal process for his case per Italian incarceration procedures for convicted criminals who have not committed violent crimes or are a flight risk.  None of the other five people who received jail sentences at the end of the Vatican’s finance trial are currently behind bars and it is expected that the appeals process could take at least a year for a new trial to conclude Becciu told the Sardinian television station TGR Sardinia after presiding over Christmas Mass at the parish church of Santa Sabina in his hometown of Pattada that he felt “an affectionate welcome” on the island after his conviction Sardinian Bishop Melis published an emotional letter on the website of the Diocese of Ozieri immediately following the Vatican ruling saying that the sentence imposed on Becciu — whom he refers to endearingly in Italian as “Don Angelino” — caused him “immense suffering “To dear Don Angelino I remember a phrase dear to Charles de Foucauld: ‘The cross is the daily bread of faithful souls,’” the bishop said This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency. Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees ROME (AP) — The financial scandal that toppled Cardinal Angelo Becciu one of the Vatican's most powerful officials mounted Friday with evidence that he directed hundreds of thousands of euros of Vatican and Italian church funds to a charity controlled by his brother But Becciu denied he did anything wrong, much less criminal, during an extraordinary news conference, a day after Pope Francis fired him and yanked his rights and privileges as a cardinal The 72-year-old Becciu said his downfall was "surreal," but that he had a clean conscience Becciu said Francis had asked him to step down as prefect of the Vatican's saint-making office during a "troubled" 20-minute meeting Thursday evening in which the pope said he "no longer had confidence in me." Becciu had gone to the pope's residence for a previously scheduled meeting to go over possible sainthood candidates when the pope told him that documents from the Italian financial police alleged he had embezzled 100,000 euros of Holy See money The cardinal's name has been caught up in a whirlwind financial scandal involving the Holy See's investment in a London real estate venture But he said the issue that forced his removal was the allegation of embezzlement which was first reported by the L'Espresso news magazine in excerpts published Friday 2 in the Vatican's secretariat of state admitted he sent the money from the office's asset fund in 2017 to his home diocese in Ozieri is the legal representative of the diocese's charitable arm Becciu said he also recommended the Italian bishops' conference donate 300,000 euros to the same charitable fund years earlier to help set it up but insisted that too was legitimate because it was the conference's decision to do so Becciu said such donations were fully in line with directives that the secretariat of state's off-the-books fund be destined toward charity issued a statement Friday saying the money was indeed destined for charity but was never used and remains in the diocesan coffers "I don't think I've committed any crime," Becciu said during the news conference sitting in front of a giant silver crucifix in a religious institute just off St Becciu said in giving up his rights and privileges as a cardinal he obviously would no longer vote in a conclave to elect a new pope But he acknowledged that he can now also be judged by others and not just the pope who has the exclusive rights to judge cardinals under canon law I'll clarify," Becciu said of Vatican prosecutors "All the more now because the pope took away my rights as a cardinal and there's no more obligation" that he be judged solely by the pontiff "So I'm a citizen like everyone else Vicky Bennison is the brains behind the YouTube show “Pasta Grannies.” The tradition of handmade pasta is declining in Italy where Bennison makes her home part of the year So she decided to start filming the grandmothers who are still painstakingly making pasta by hand “Pasta Grannies” resonated with viewers and Bennison gained 500,000 subscribers on YouTube, giving rise to a cookbook by the same name where the local pasta shape is macarrones de ungia which means “fingernail pasta.” Photo by Emma Lee Vicky Bennison adapted her popular YouTube series Vicky Bennison traverses Italy in search of kitchen secrets and pasta know-how from Italy’s best home cooks – nonnas Benedetta Jasmine Guetta shares the history of Judaism in Italy with a few non-dairy recipes and offers insight into where Jewish culture and Italian cuisine intersect Slowing down to appreciate the daily mundane Sophie Minchilli explores the Italian notion of living in the moment Heather Eddy took back channels to reverse engineer the scents and notes in the essential oil Fiori di Sicilia Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau explore the afternoon ritual of Italy’s aperitivo Bill Addison visits Mother Wolf in Hollywood where chef Evan Funke pays homage to Roman cuisine Zen Ong is using blue corn tortillas from Tehachapi Grain Project at Awan a plant-based ice cream shop in West Hollywood Good Food’s Evan Kleiman delivers local-first missives from our vibrant food community FLASH SALE: Snag The OG Black Zip-Up designed by LA artist Chuy Hartman— inspired by the 24/7 service we provide to the LA community ends tonight Get the latest from KCRW in your inbox 3x a week after completing an investigation into alleged theft and fraud in the management of Church charitable funds Local police completed their investigation in January, according to a report from Rai, the Italian state broadcaster, and are expected to file charges against Antonio Becciu, his wife Giovanna Pani, and Pani’s daughter.  Cathedral of Mary Immaculate in the Diocese of Ozieri Image credit: Filippo Nieddu/GoogleThe local director of Caritas Mario Curzu is also expected to be charged along with five other individuals in the case with prosecutors alleging the group misappropriated more than 2 million euros between 2013 and 2023 Share identified as coming from the “eight per thousand” system by which Italians taxpayers are required to allocate .8% of their annual income tax return to a recognized religious body or state run social assistance program Curzu and used to fund private interests and business ventures Lawyers for Becciu and Curzu issued a statement to media Tuesday saying that they have been  “aware of the investigation of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Sassari for some time” and now that it had concluded they “are finally allowed the possibility of clarifying the positions of all the people involved.” The lawyers said that they “would have preferred the confidentiality on the facts,” rather than public disclosure of the allegations until their clients had been able to offer their own account of events to prosecutors but insisted they would mount a vigorous defense Becciu and Cruzu were repeatedly cited in the Vatican financial crimes trial Both men were summoned to appear as witnesses by judges in Vatican City to answer questions about the conduct of Cardinal Becciu who was convicted on several counts of financial crimes and sentenced to five and a half years in prison Cruzu refused to appear during the Vatican trial Cardinal Becciu has appealed his convictions — as have Vatican prosecutors Both Vatican and Italian prosecutors have disputed how “charitable” the Becciu brothers’ purposes were In November 2022, Vatican prosecutors told the court that their Italian counterparts had found the forged receipts among nearly 1,000 pages of paperwork they examined. When the paperwork for the supposed deliveries was produced, no one could recognize the signatures on the documents, prosecutors said.  Italian financial police concluded that invoices were created just weeks before police searches, and were fabricated to cover supposed deliveries dating back to 2018, for which no other records exist. ReplyShareLatestNo posts Public prosecutors in Sardinia are set to bring charges against the brother of Cardinal Angelo Becciu Local police completed their investigation in January, according to a report from Rai, the Italian state broadcaster, and are expected to file charges against Antonio Becciu, his wife Giovanna Pani, and Pani\u2019s daughter.  with prosecutors alleging the group misappropriated more than 2 million euros between 2013 and 2023.  Share identified as coming from the \u201Ceight per thousand\u201D system by which Italians taxpayers are required to allocate .8% of their annual income tax return to a recognized religious body or state run social assistance program.  Lawyers for Becciu and Curzu issued a statement to media Tuesday saying that they have been  \u201Caware of the investigation of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Sassari for some time\u201D and now that it had concluded they \u201Care finally allowed the possibility of clarifying the positions of all the people involved.\u201D The lawyers said that they \u201Cwould have preferred the confidentiality on the facts,\u201D rather than public disclosure of the allegations Cardinal Becciu has appealed his convictions \u2014 as have Vatican prosecutors Both Vatican and Italian prosecutors have disputed how \u201Ccharitable\u201D the Becciu brothers\u2019 purposes were who must spend five years in prison after being convicted by the Vatican City State Court for misuse of money The sentence indicates that he has also been perpetually disqualified from holding public office and must pay a fine of 8,000 euros who held the third most important position in the Holy See for more than seven years is the first Cardinal to be sentenced by a court in the Vatican since its creation as a State in 1929 Angelo Becciu was nuncio to Angola and Cuba in the province of Sassari on the Italian island of Sardinia he was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Ozieri to which he would again be linked in the trial for the financial scandal Becciu entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on May 1 and served in the pontifical representations of the Central African Republic Pope Saint John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Angola He was also appointed to the diplomatic headquarters in Sao Tome and Principe a month later Becciu was the third most powerful person in the Vatican Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as a substitute for General Affairs of the Vatican Secretariat of State This department collaborates with the Holy Father in the government of the universal Church Becciu became the third most powerful person in the Vatican after the Pope and the Vatican Secretary of State the Section for General Affairs is "responsible for handling matters regarding the everyday service of the Supreme Pontiff both in caring for the universal Church and dealing with the dicasteries of the Roman Curia." it "attends to the preparation of whatever documents the Holy Father entrusts to it It enacts the provisions for appointments within the Roman Curia" and "attends to all that concerns the Embassies accredited to the Holy See It supervises the Holy See's official communication agencies," among other functions Angelo Becciu held this position until Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2018 when he appointed him the Congregation for the Causes of Saint's Prefect a year and a month after Becciu assumed the new position the Vatican prosecutor's office raided the offices of the Secretariat of State The purchase of the London building and the Vatican financial scandal During Becciu's management in the Secretariat of State the Vatican acquired a building located in an exclusive area of London a purchase full of irregularities that caused the trial to which he was subjected between July 2021 and December 2023 for embezzlement of funds After the raid on the Secretariat of State the British newspaper Financial Times revealed that the Vatican was investigating possible irregularities in an investment authorized by Becciu consisting of purchasing the building on Sloane Avenue for $364 million the Vatican had to sell the property for less money: 223.6 million dollars Pope Francis summoned Cardinal Becciu to a meeting after which the Cardinal renounced his rights as a cardinal and the position of prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints the Holy Father signed a motu proprio to modify the norm according to which cardinals could only be tried by the Vatican Court of Cassation The Pope decided that ordinary courts could also judge cardinals with prior authorization from the Pontiff and he authorized the Vatican court to proceed against Cardinal Becciu The first court hearing took place on July 27 The trial focused not only on the property purchase but also on the financial contribution of 125,000 euros that the Secretary of State directed to Caritas of Ozieri during his administration The process also investigated the delivery of 570,000 euros that the Vatican department made to Cecilia Marogna to supposedly use in hostage rescue operations such as the case of Sister Cecilia Narváez Although the Cardinal affirmed that the Pope was aware of this operation pointed out that Francis had not authorized the delivery of the money to the woman "but to the British Inkerman Group," in charge of mediating the release of the Colombian nun and part of the strategy of his lawyers was to discredit the testimony of Bishop Alberto Perlasca head of the Administrative Office of the Secretariat of State during Cardinal Becciu's administration due to the contradictions in which he had fallen the Vatican Tribunal indicated that Cardinal Angelo Becciu was found responsible for the irregular purchase of the building on Sloane Avenue in London since it was carried out "at the behest of the cardinal." It also found him guilty of embezzlement in transferring 125,000 euros from the Secretariat of State to Caritas of Ozieri through a cooperative his brother Antonio Becciu presided over it also condemned him for the delivery of 570,000 euros from the Vatican department to Cecilia Marogna which was not used for the rescue of hostages This story was originally posted on Aciprensa Eduardo Berdejo has a Journalism degree from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Peru) He has been a member of the ACI Prensa team since 2001 He has covered Pope Francis' visits to Cuba He also holds a diploma in Comparative Literature from the University of Piura (Peru) and has completed the Comprehensive Course on Style Correction at the Lima Publishing School (Peru) There has been much controversy in Ozieri over the fact that the patronal festival in honor of the Blessed Virgin of Remedy has not stopped despite the tragic death of a child crushed by a soccer goal the authorities have decided not to cancel the concert The social media storm turned against the organizers of the party having been harshly criticized by the media He posted a video full of insults on his Instagram account “The death of a child is an unbearable pain Words seem useless at a time like this,” Peralta wrote on social media “This is a time to respect the pain of others Our community has suffered a terrible tragedy: a little angel who are going through the most difficult time: the loss of a child Our city administration offers its support to this family who have lost their little angel.” Peralta added that law enforcement felt it was appropriate not to suspend the scheduled event for reasons of public safety approximately 15 thousand people from all over the island had arrived today all the events previously scheduled for the patronal feast have been canceled As explained in a message on Facebook by the Beata Vergine del Rimedio religious society in light of the tragedy that occurred yesterday in our community it was deemed necessary to interrupt the civil celebrations and the procession of folk groups and knights scheduled for Sunday the religious processions will remain confirmed demonstrating our affection and solidarity towards the family affected by the loss but it was not possible for us due to issues related to public order and complicated logistical problems to which we had to comply was informed of the tragic event before his concert in Ozieri and asked his audience to observe a minute of silence in memory of Gioele and express solidarity with the afflicted family Just because the news about the wrong autotune went viral then such a great tragedy is being passed over in silence This situation demonstrates the deplorable state of the Italian media Notizie.it is a newspaper registered with the Court of Milan n.68 on 01/03/2018 Impara come descrivere lo scopo dell'immagine (si apre in una nuova scheda) Lascia vuoto se l'immagine è puramente decorativa