Becciu Says Pope ‘Should No Longer Be Head of State’

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the former papal chief of staff convicted of financial crimes, has said that the exercise of papal power needs to change, calling for the pope to lose his governing authority in the Vatican City State. 

Becciu, who was convicted of embezzlement, fraud, and abuse of office by a Vatican City tribunal last year, is currently appealing a sentence of five-and-half-years in prison, which was imposed after a trial which itself lasted more than two-and-a-half years.