Pope Angelo Becciu says that Pope Francis has approved a secret bid of 1 million euros to free the kidnapped nun from Islamist militants. World News

The Pope has approved a 1 million euro covert operation to free a kidnapped Colombian nun in Mali, a disgraced cardinal has announced.

Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez was arrested by the Macina Liberation Front, an al Qaeda-linked group, in February 2017 and released last year.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, one of the ten defendants on trial accused of corruptiondeclared Pope Francis authorized the bid to free her after being told it cost a maximum of 1 million euros (£856,000) and demanded a ransom and established a “network of communication”.

“He approved. I have to say that every phase of that activity was approved by the Holy Father,” Becciu, 73, told a Vatican court on Thursday.

The cardinal also denied having an illicit relationship with a 41-year-old Italian woman – nicknamed the “cardinal’s wife” by the Italian media – who brokered the operation.

Becciu said Cecilia Marogna, who is also a defendant, put him in contact with a London-based risk and intelligence firm in 2018.

A special account was set up, he said, and payments were made to accounts designated by Marogna.

According to the cardinal, the London company contacted the kidnappers, but he did not confirm whether a ransom was ultimately paid.

He told the court the deal was kept secret, even from the head of the Vatican’s security department, out of concern a leak would “jeopardize the lives and safety of missionaries”. other”.

Becciu, the Vatican’s deputy foreign minister from 2011 to 2018, is accused of aiding embezzlement, abuse of office and soliciting witnesses to give false statements. He denies the allegations.

Pope Francis fired Becciu as head of the Vatican’s religious department two years ago, accusing him of being religious in favor of his brothers – an allegation he also denies. .

Two months ago, he lifted the Cardinal’s oath of secrecy so he could answer questions at the trial.

Marogna is accused of embezzling €575,000 from the Vatican’s secretariat of state.

Prosecutors claimed she used the if for personal gain, including the purchase of luxury goods. She also denied any wrongdoing.

The cardinal told the court that his relationship with her had been “distorted, with derogatory innuendos” that were “harmful to my priestly dignity”.

Most of the trials centered on the secretariat’s purchase of a building in London as part of a 350 million euro investment went awry, ending with a loss of 217 million euros.

Two Italian brokers have been charged with extortion, while other defendants include former Vatican employees and officials involved in the deal. They both deny any wrongdoing.

The trial continued.