Vatican City, Sep 25, 2020 / 06:15 am
The Vatican announced Thursday night that Cardinal Angelo Becciu had resigned from the rights extended to members of the College of Cardinals, but it did not specify which rights the cardinal had lost.
Examining previous cases of cardinals who have renounced their rights can give some idea of what this means for Becciu, who is embroiled in allegations of financial malpractice, which he denied at a press conference Sept. 25.
In 2015, Pope Francis accepted a similar renunciation from Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who in 2013 admitted to serial sexual misconduct. As a result, O'Brien did not attend public ecclesiastical events and was not eligible to participate in a papal conclave.
At the time, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, explained that O'Brien had given up the rights and prerogatives outlined in canons 349, 353, and 356 of the Church's Code of Canon Law.