In a hushed courtroom in the heart of the Vatican, Angelo Becciu, once the most powerful cardinal in Rome, is listening to a tale of plunder, passion and Prada handbags. Smooth-featured, and still handsome at 74, Becciu strokes his rosary and occasionally glances across at the slender, well-dressed woman seated on a bench nearby. In the gossipy back corridors of the Holy See, Cecilia Marogna, 41, is known as the ‘Cardinal’s Lady’ – the key figure in an extraordinary scandal that has cost the Vatican hundreds of millions of dollars and destroyed the reputation of a man tipped as a future pope.
Cecilia and the cardinal are jointly on trial for a string of offences including embezzlement, fraud and money laundering. But as the testimony unfolds, the question consuming Italy is: what is the true relationship between the pair? While Becciu has enjoyed a stellar rise through the ranks of the Catholic hierarchy, Cecilia is portrayed as a shadowy femme fatale, who came from nowhere to insinuate herself into the older man’s life and exploit the connection for personal gain.
Both deny they were lovers, but around them swirl awkward accounts of exotic holidays, luxury spa visits, and large bills run up in expensive restaurants and top Italian fashion boutiques including Fendi, Missoni and Prada.
Investigators have found evidence of numerous visits Cecilia made to the cardinal’s official residence in the Vatican’s 16th Century Apostolic Palace. On one occasion, according to court testimony, she arrived carrying a
