"Although with the utmost respect for those who carried out the investigations, I cannot fail to reject with the utmost firmness some affirmations contained in the information of the GdF of Oristano and which sound like accusations not only against me, but also against the Pope and his collaborators , who are the Heads of Dicastery».

Thus Cardinal Angelo Becciu in a long spontaneous statement today in the 45th hearing of the Vatican trial on the management of the funds of the Secretariat of State and after Colonel Pasquale Pellecchia of the Gdf of Oristano provided excerpts from the personal papers of the deceased Msgr. Sergio Pintor, former bishop of Ozieri, collected in a "Confidential information note" in which he denounced "heavy interference" by the Holy See in the management of the diocese.

«These are not just any papers - said Becciu -, but personal reflections of the Prelate on facts pertaining to his episcopal government in Ozieri and in which, among others, high ecclesiastical personalities of the Roman Curia are involved. In the face of the exhibition of these papers, allow me to express disbelief and suffering ».

According to Becciu, these papers were to remain secret in the archives of the diocesan Curia and "I am sorry to point out - he said - that the niece of the bishop who handed over these documents to the tax police has failed in her duty as a Christian . Those papers were not his property, but the Church's and he insulted his uncle because here, moreover, there is the risk of damaging his memory with the parade of witnesses who will not fail to narrate, alas, where necessary, even unpleasant facts that occurred during his government".

Becciu contested that the resignation of Monsignor Pintor at the age of 75, far from "an unusual event", "would have been the result of maneuvers by a coalition of people such as myself, card. Piacenza, then Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, Cardinal Bertone, then Secretary of State, the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and the Apostolic Nuncio in Italy at the time».

"One point needs to be clarified immediately because otherwise a serious reconstructive error would be made - he continued -: it is the Pope who decides on the life of a Bishop : it is he who appoints, it is he who transfers and it is he who decides on resignation after evaluated all the circumstances; it is only the Pope and no one else! To say that for the resignation of Archbishop Pintor there was a confluence of manipulative forces towards the Holy Father is a serious affirmation ».

"If Archbishop Pintor indulged in negative considerations, it is humanly understandable for the moment of discouragement and disappointment he will have experienced, but it is not acceptable that others use them to accredit theses that are never eccentric", he added.

The cardinal then denied further points in the Financiers' report in which "serious statements surface which underline that 'Diocese and Caritas were managed at a family level, like an offshoot of the Becciu family'". « I dispute in the most absolute way that I have ever interfered in the governance of the diocese », he declared, recalling «that I left Ozieri in 1980 and since 1984 I have served in the Church at various Nunciatures in various countries of the world, therefore very far from my diocese and busy with other burdensome commitments. I returned to Rome in 2011, called by Pope Benedict for the position of Substitute of the Secretariat of State». Even in this capacity, " I have never been interested in the governance of the diocese and I have never interfered in the decisions of the bishops ". “I will be able to call the two living bishops as witnesses and ask them if I have ever interfered in their decisions or initiatives - continued Becciu -. With the same mgr. Pintor, since his arrival in Ozieri in 2006, I have created a relationship of friendship and mutual esteem which manifested itself in a concrete way when I came on holiday to Sardinia. I had the same attitude as Substitute, he has always received me well and also honored me publicly". “However, I have to admit something that bothers me to tell – he added -. Relations with Archbishop Pintor cracked from October 2011, therefore 5 years after his entry. It was for a trivial reason linked to a report he made to me and which I did not follow up on explaining the reasons to the Bishop. I will not detail further so as not to harm the interested party". “Unfortunately from that moment on the confrere fell victim to his rancorous temper and it was not me who paid the price, but my brother, Tonino, and the other leaders of the diocesan Caritas - he concluded -. I was told a series of episodes from which an attitude of total aversion towards them emerged».

(Unioneonline/vl)

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