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In a twist that feels straight out of a Vatican-themed legal drama, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu is shaking up the holy halls once more—this time with a bold claim that he might still have a say in choosing the next pope, despite being convicted of financial crimes and listed as a "non-elector." You'd think a five-and-a-half-year sentence might take someone out of the papal draft, but Becciu's still holding onto hope—and his Vatican apartment.
Becciu, once dubbed the "Pope's right-hand man," had walk-in privileges to see Pope Francis and wielded major influence across the Vatican's administrative operations. That is, until he was tangled up in a financial scandal over a disastrous London property investment that made the Holy See look more like the Holy Spenders. Tens of millions were lost, and in 2023, Becciu became the first cardinal ever convicted by the Vatican's own criminal court.
Still, the Sardinian cardinal isn't backing down. Though he resigned his "rights and privileges" in 2020 at Pope Francis' request, he was never officially removed from the College of Cardinals. Becciu insists there was no explicit demand for him to give up his right to join the conclave, stating in a recent interview that no one asked him to formally renounce it. Basically, he's saying: "No one told me I can't sit with them."
The Holy See, on the other hand, has quietly listed him as a non-elector—Vatican code for "you can come to the party, but you're not touching the voting machine." Whether he'll be allowed to participate in the sacred voting process remains up to the College of Cardinals' dean, Giovanni Battista Re, and conclave overseer Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Becciu's appeal is currently pending, and in the meantime, he continues to reside within Vatican walls—because apparently, even when convicted, cardinals don't exactly get booted to a monastery in Siberia. His age, 76, technically keeps him eligible to vote in the next conclave, since the cutoff is 80. The legal question now seems to be not can he vote, but should he?
