Cardinal Angelo Becciu’s “bombshell testimony could pose serious security implications for the Vatican and Catholic Church, since he provided evidence that the Pope was apparently willing to pay ransom to Islamic militants to free a nun,” the Associated Press reported.
Cardinal Becciu oversaw the internal affairs of the Roman Curia as Substitute (Sostituto) of the Secretariat of State from 2011 to 2018. Pope Francis created him a cardinal in the 2018 consistory and named him Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In 2020, Becciu resigned from the “rights connected to the cardinalate.”