VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once a powerful Vatican official, has formally withdrawn from participating in the conclave to elect a new pope.
The Vatican's criminal court convicted Becciu in 2023 of embezzlement and other finance-related charges at the end of the so-called “trial of the century.” But in recent days, he insisted he was still entitled to vote in the conclave. He withdrew on Tuesday, apparently after he was presented with two letters, written by Pope Francis before his death, saying he shouldn't participate.
Becciu, 76, was once a leading papal contender. A longtime Vatican diplomat, he served in embassies in Angola, Cuba and elsewhere before taking up one of the most powerful jobs as “substitute” in the Vatican secretariat of state. Francis made him the head of the Vatican's saint-making office and promoted him to a cardinal in 2018, but later forced his resignation over allegations of financial mismanagement.
The Sardinian native rose to prominence under conservative Pope Benedict XVI and is closely affiliated with the conservative Vatican old guard. While he initially became a close adviser to Francis, Becciu owes his downfall to him.
Francis forced Becciu's resignation as head of the Vatican's saint-making office and forced him to renounce the rights of the cardinalate on Sept. 24, 2020, after receiving allegations that Becciu sent Vatican money to his brother in Sardinia.
Becciu told journalists that his downfall was “surreal,” but that he had a clear conscience. He said he remained loyal to Francis and was ready to die for him.
The Vatican in its official statistics said he was no longer an elector in the conclave.
At 76, Becciu is under the age limit of 80 and technically eligible to vote.
After days of controversy about his participation in the conclave, Becciu released a statement through his lawyer, Fabio Viglione, renouncing his participation.
“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,” it said.
It was not clear what the letters from Francis said.
Vatican prosecutors in 2021 issued a 487-page indictment accusing Becciu and nine others of numerous financial crimes including fraud, embezzlement, extortion, corruption, money laundering and abuse of office.
The main focus involved the Holy See’s 350-million-euro investment in a luxury London property. Prosecutors allege brokers and Vatican monsignors fleeced the Holy See of tens of millions of euros in fees and commissions, then extorted the Holy See for 15 million euros ($16.5 million) to cede control of the property.
The London investigation spawned two tangents that involved the star defendant, Becciu, including the Sardinia allegations.
Prosecutors accused him of embezzlement because he sent 125,000 euros in Vatican money to a diocesan charity in Sardinia that was run by his brother. Becciu argued that the local bishop requested the money for a bakery to employ at-risk youths, and that the money remained in the diocesan coffers.
Becciu was also accused of paying a Sardinian woman, Cecilia Marogna, for her intelligence services. Prosecutors traced some 575,000 euros in transfers from the Vatican to Marogna's Slovenian front company, then expenditures for high-end luxury goods.
Becciu said he thought the money was going to be used to pay a British security firm to negotiate the release of a Colombian nun who had been taken hostage by Islamic militants in Mali in 2017.
Becciu, Marogna and seven others were convicted of various finance-related charges and all are appealing.
Questions continue about the integrity of the trial. During the proceedings, the court heard that Francis intervened on several occasions on behalf of the prosecutors, and that the prosecution’s prime witness against Becciu was coached and manipulated by outsiders.
Defense lawyers discovered that the pope had secretly issued four decrees during the investigation to benefit prosecutors, allowing them to conduct intercepts and detain suspects without a judge’s warrant.
Lawyers argued such interference by an absolute monarch in a legal system where the pope exercises supreme legislative, executive and judicial power violated their clients’ fundamental rights and robbed them of a fair trial.
The tribunal rejected their objections, but in recent weeks more evidence has emerged about the outside manipulation of the witness and apparent collusion with Vatican prosecutors and gendarmes to target Becciu.
The appeal is scheduled to begin in September.
The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, declined to speak about the new evidence reported by Domani newspaper about the efforts to target Becciu, saying he would only speak about the conclave.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
FILE - Mons. Angelo Becciu presides over an eucharistic liturgy, at the St. John in Latheran Basilica, in Rome, Feb. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File )
NEW YORK (AP) — “Heated Rivalry” is scoring big with hockey romance fans. Since its Thanksgiving weekend debut, the steamy television adaptation of Rachel Reid’s 2019 novel has dominated social media feeds and inspired a growing fanbase devoted to the queer romance at its center.
The story traces Canadian Shane Hollander and Russian Ilya Rozanov as they sustain a decade-long secret relationship, mixing slow-building yearning with explicit sexual scenes. Jacob Tierney, who developed, wrote and directed the series, said he was drawn to the project for its “pure queer joy.”
Audiences have met that joy with a passionate response, propelling “Heated Rivalry” to the No. 1 series on HBO Max as the first season heads into its finale Friday. Along the way, it’s generated new interest in the “Game Changers” book series that it’s based on and drawn attention to sports romance fiction, especially stories with queer storylines.
Originally developed for the Canadian streaming service Crave, the show scored a distribution deal with HBO and has already been renewed for a second season.
“Unashamedly, when pitching, it was just like, this is a Harlequin romance. This has a happy ending,” Tierney said. “This is about two boys in love and a lot of sex.”
Hockey romance books have grown in popularity within the broader sports romance genre, fueled by readers drawn to the intensity of sport as much as the relationships at its center. Mackenzie Walton, who edited the “Heated Rivalry” novel, said the genre’s staying power comes from how deeply the stories immerse readers in the sport itself.
“It’s much more common when I read a hockey romance that I get the sense that hockey is important at the heart of the book, and I think readers really respond to that sense of authenticity,” Walton said.
According to the book’s publisher Harlequin, Reid’s six novel “Game Changers” series has sold 650,000 copies since the first was published in 2018.
“Anytime Hollywood pays attention to, and respects, romance fans, they notice and show their appreciation,” Leah Koch, co-owner of the romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice, wrote in an email. She added that producing a high-quality adaptation of a story queer readers might not have expected to reach television signals a growing recognition of both their cultural interests and their economic impact.
Content creator Josh Banfield has been making Instagram videos about the show since its November premiere. He believes part of the show's popularity with queer fans is the slow-burning aspect of Shane and Ilya’s romance.
“There’s something nice about seeing the yearning and seeing that they do maintain contact with each other and still have this connection,” Banfield said.
Fans and the creators behind the book and TV show also credit the lead actors, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, for the show’s success. Tierney said he knew they were his Ilya and Shane almost instantly.
“The show was going to live and die based on this casting,” Tierney said. “I think once they did their chemistry read together, everybody was like, ‘OK, fine, done.’”
Rachel Reid, author of the books, said she was happy with the adaptation and with who was chosen to play the characters she wrote.
“If I built the perfect actors in a lab, I could not have built better people to play these characters,” Reid said.
It was also important to both Tierney and Reid to have Shane played by someone of Asian descent, as the character is in the books, to keep a sense of diversity in a genre that tends to have mostly white characters.
Hockey romances still tend to be dominantly white and heterosexual. According to Koch, readers who come to the Ripped Bodice's locations are looking for more people like Shane — queer and diverse — to be in their stories.
Customers frequently seek out queer sports romances and those that “go beyond the typical alpha-jock trope,” she wrote. But she’s skeptical that the success of “Heated Rivalry” will lead to more mainstream books or shows with queer stories.
“A breakthrough title does sometimes allow other authors more access, but not always,” Koch wrote. “But hey, maybe they’ll prove me wrong, and wouldn’t that be nice?”
Romance blogger Laura Dusi-Showers said women in particular are responding to the male-on-male romance in a hockey book because of the fantasy aspect of seeing something different than their everyday lives. As for why it works, she said it was due to hockey being a “manly, aggressive sport” with no out NHL players. “I think it’s opening people’s eyes to what could be,” Dusi-Showers said.
This was the reason Reid wrote her books in the first place: wanting to tell a different story.
“The series just came from a love of hockey, but also my own conflicted feelings about all the bad things about the culture around the sport, especially the homophobia,” Reid said.
Reid’s debut book in her hockey series, “Game Changer,” is about Scott Hunter, the fictional first fictional hockey player to come out publicly, and his juice-bar barista boyfriend Kip Grady. Part of this story was told in “Heated Rivalry’s” third episode and featured as a climactic moment in the fifth episode.
As to why fans are responding so strongly to the show and the actors, Reid singled out the acting.
“They’re getting really, really emotional or excited about one little quiet part or one line delivery, and that has nothing to do with the sex on the show,” she said, pointing specifically to Williams’ performance as the more awkward and less self-assured Shane. “Maybe a choice that Hudson made as an actor is making everybody lose their minds, and I love to see that.”
This image released by Crave shows Hudson Williams, left, and Connor Storrie in a scene from "Heated Rivalry." (Crave via AP)
This image released by Crave shows Hudson Williams, left, and Connor Storrie in a scene from "Heated Rivalry." (Crave via AP)
