Source: AFP
A Vatican court delivered its verdict on Saturday in a historic trial centered on an opaque property deal in London, with a once-powerful cardinal among 10 defendants facing prison terms for alleged financial crimes.
Angelo Becciu, 75, a former adviser to Pope Francis who was once considered a papal contender himself, is the most senior cleric in the Catholic Church to face a Vatican criminal tribunal.
He and nine other defendants, including financiers, lawyers and former Vatican employees, face a range of charges ranging from fraud, embezzlement and money laundering to extortion, corruption and abuse of power.
All deny the charges.
At the center of the trial is the purchase of a luxury property in London, worth 350 million euros ($380 million), as part of an investment that began in 2014 and ended up costing the Vatican tens of millions of euros ($380 million).
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The trial, which began in July 2021, shed light on the murky finances of the Holy See, which Pope Francis has sought to clean up since taking the helm of the Catholic Church in March 2013.
It is also a test of his reforms.
A few weeks before the trial, Francis gave the Vatican’s civil courts the power to try cardinals and bishops, where they had previously been judged by a court presided over by cardinals.
Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi asked for seven years and three months in prison for Becciu and almost four to 13 years for the others.
Becciu has always strongly protested his innocence, denouncing the charges against him as “totally baseless” and insisting he never received a single cent.
For its part, the Holy See considers itself an “offended party” and has asked through Foreign Minister Pietro Parolin that the court “punish all crimes.”
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Four Vatican entities are political parties. They have sought compensation from the defendants, including 177 million euros for moral and reputational damage.
Charitable causes
The panel of three lay judges met on Saturday morning, before retiring before the verdict on Saturday afternoon.
Court president Giuseppe Pinnatone read a note of thanks to those involved, acknowledging the “complexity” of the case.
Since the start of the trial, more than 80 hearings have been held in the special room of the Vatican Museums, where a portrait of a smiling Pope Francis hangs on the wall.
The trial has been mired in procedural controversy, with defense lawyers complaining of a lack of access to key evidence.
Becciu, a globalized former Vatican diplomat, was a near-constant presence in the courtroom.
He was number two at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, the Vatican department that works most closely with the Pope, from 2011 to 2018.
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He was moved to lead the department dealing with the creation of saints, before suddenly resigning in September 2020 after being informed of an investigation against him.
Initially, he told the trial, it was an investigation into €125,000 in Vatican money he donated to a charity in his native Sardinia, which prosecutors allege benefited his brother, who ran the organization.
But he later became embroiled in investigations into the purchase and sale of the property on London’s Sloane Avenue — resulting in damages that the Vatican said dipped into funds meant for charity.
When the trial opened, prosecutors painted a picture of risky investments with little or no oversight and double-dealing by both outside advisers and insiders.
Among the defendants are two brokers involved in the London deal, Gianluigi Torzi and Raffaele Mincione, as well as Enrico Crasso, the Vatican’s former investment director, and former Vatican official Fabrizio Tirabassi.
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Becciu is also accused of payments made to a Sardinian woman, Cecilia Marogna — who is also on trial — which he claims were to help negotiate the release of a Colombian nun kidnapped in Mali.
Source: AFP