Rome Newsroom, Nov 18, 2020 / 09:30 am
Cardinal Angelo Becciu said Wednesday he is taking legal action against an Italian media outlet for publishing "unfounded accusations" against him.
In the Nov. 18 statement, the former senior Vatican official again denied reports that he had used Church funds to benefit family members, or that he had attempted to influence the outcome of a sex abuse trial against Cardinal George Pell in Australia last year.
Becciu, until recently the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, called the allegations "all false" and repeated that he has not been contacted by Vatican judicial authorities.
Since September, Italian newsweekly L'Espresso has published several reports about the former curial official, including claims he is being investigated by the Vatican for misuse of Secretariat of State funds and papal alms while he was serving as the department's sostituto.