Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who is appealing a Vatican conviction for embezzlement, on Tuesday confirmed reports that he will not take part in the conclave to elect Pope Francis’s successor.

In 2023 the former Substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State was convicted on two counts of embezzlement and one of aggravated fraud over alleged mismanagement of a Church property portfolio, including a luxury flat on London’s Sloan Avenue.

In 2020 was resigned from his position from Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and was stripped of his rights and privileges as a cardinal after the property scandal exploded.

The 76-year-old Sardinian was reportedly pushing to take part in the conclave, which starts on May 7, but changed his mind after Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin showed him two documents signed by Francis saying that he should not.

“Having at heath the good of the Church, which I have served and will continue to serve with fidelity and love, and to contribute to the communion and serenity of the conclave, I have decided to obey Pope Francis, as I have always done, and will not to enter the Conclave, while remaining convinced of my innocence,” Becciu said Tuesday.