VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Italian cardinal at the heart of the Vatican’s “trial of the century” announced Tuesday he was withdrawing from participating in the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope for “the good of the church,” ending days of drama that had overshadowed the proceedings.
FILE - Mons. Angelo Becciu presides over an eucharistic liturgy, at the St. John in Latheran Basilica, in Rome, Feb. 9, 2017.
On Tuesday, the 76-year-old Italian issued a statement through his lawyers that said: “Having at heart the good of the church, which I have served and will continue to serve with fidelity and love, as well as to contribute to the communion and serenity of the conclave, I have decided to obey as I have always done the will of Pope Francis not to enter the conclave while remaining convinced of my innocence.
Becciu is under the age limit of 80 and technically eligible to vote, but the Vatican’s official statistics list him as a “non-elector.”
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