Former high-ranking Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, sacked and stripped of his cardinal privileges in 2020 amid a scandal surrounding a London property deal and now on trial for financial fraud, has asked Pope Francis to confirm that he approved confidential financial dealings – during the phone conversation, which he recorded without the knowledge of the sovereign pontiff – shortly before the trial, the Italian press reported on Friday, AFP reports with reference to News.ro.

The recording, made in the summer of 2021, three days before the trial began and after the pope underwent major colon surgery, has not been made public, but its existence was revealed at a court hearing Thursday at the Vatican.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, 74, a former close adviser to the Pope, was sacked and stripped of all cardinal privileges in September 2020 amid a scandal surrounding a London property deal, despite his claims of innocence.

Ten individuals are on trial at the Vatican’s criminal court starting in July 2021 for fraud, embezzlement, abuse of power, money laundering, corruption and extortion.

Among those people, Cecilia Marogna, an intermediary employed by Monsignor Becciu as a security consultant, is accused of spending €575,000 she received from the Vatican on hotel stays and luxury goods.

According to prosecutors, the funds paid to Marogna, who the Italian press dubbed the “lady of the cardinal”, were intended to free priests and monks held hostage abroad.

In his telephone conversation with the Pope – July 24, 2021 – Cardinal Becciu asks him to confirm the fact that he has approved the release of some funds to secure the release of a Colombian nun held in Mali by a group linked to al-Qaeda.

“Have you given me permission or not to begin operations to (obtain) the release of the nun?” Bechiu asks him.

“We have set a ransom of 500,000 euros, not a cent more, because it would be immoral to give more money (…) to terrorists. I think I told you about all this. Do you remember?” he asked.

According to a transcript published by the Italian daily Il Messaggero, the Pope replied that he remembered “hazy”.

The Argentinian Pope, looking confused, then asks Monsignor Becciu to make the request in writing.

That conversation was recorded in Angelo Becciu’s apartment by one of his relatives “on speakerphone,” according to the court.

The trial – the first against a high-ranking cardinal – was to continue on Friday with hearings from key witnesses in the murky case.