The Vatican tribunal weighing a financial fraud case heard from an unusual witness Thursday, when a secret recording of Pope Francis was played to the court about the Holy See's payments to free a nun held hostage by al Qaeda-linked militants.
heard from an unusual witness Thursday, when a secret recording of Pope Francis was played to the court about the Holy See's payments to free a nun held hostage by al Qaeda-linked militants.
Pope Francis arrives in Saint Peters Square for the general audience, Vatican City, November 23th, 2022Vatican prosecutors revealed that the Sardinian evidence has also been added to a new Vatican investigation in which Becciu is under investigation for alleged criminal conspiracy. In the recording, Becciu asks Francis to essentially confirm that the pope had authorized the payments to a British firm that Marogna had identified to negotiate the freedom of a Colombian nun who was kidnapped in 2017 in Mali.
According to the transcript, the pope said he"vaguely" remembered but asked Becciu to put his request in writing. Colombian nun Gloria Cecilia Narvaez, who was held captive for nearly five years by al Qaeda-linked militants, listens to a question during a press conference in Bogota, Colombia, in this Nov. 19, 2021 file photo. Becciu had told the court on May 5 that he had raised her plight with Francis and that the pontiff had agreed to spend up to 1 million euros to hire the British firm, Inkerman Group, to find the nun and secure her freedom. She was eventually released last year and met with the pope.
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