Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was convicted of embezzlement and fraud in 2023, said on Tuesday he will not take part in the secret conclave to elect the new pope.

Once thenumber three of the Holy See, this Sardinian cardinal linked to a major financial scandalfinally renounced attending the conclave. In 2020, he sought €10 million from an Italian newspaper for “loss of opportunity” of one day succeeding Francis.

The Italian cardinal at the heart of the Vatican’s “trial of the century” announced Tuesday he was withdrawing from participating in the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope