Pope gave green light to secret deal to free kidnapped nun, court told

Pope Francis speaks in the plenary assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (IUSG) at the Vatican, May 5, 2022. [Reuters]

Pope Francis approved a secret million-euro operation to free a Colombian nun who was held captive for more than four years by an Islamist militant group in Mali before she was released in 2021, a cardinal told a Vatican court on Thursday.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, 73, the only cardinal among 10 defendants at a corruption trial that began last July, also testified that he had no improper relations with an Italian woman who was an intermediary in the operation to free the nun.