The Promoter of Justice for the Vatican City State, Alessandro Diddi, started a two-week hearing to summarize his arguments in his high-profile case against ten people accused of alleged financial crimes, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, and charging officials within the Vatican secretariat of state with serious violations of internal procedures and canon law.
These violations allegedly occurred in 2012 when these Vatican officials and others decided to invest papal funds in what attorney Diddi described as highly speculative ventures, namely a $390 million London real estate project.
The trial was based on the London deal but was expanded to implicate Cardinal Becciu, once one of the most influential figures in the Vatican. Becciu resigned from his office in the Vatican and was stripped of his rights and privileges as a cardinal in September of 2020. The cardinal faces allegations of donating around €125,000 in Vatican money to a charity run by his brother and allegedly paying approximately €575,000 from Vatican funds to a self-described security expert to help secure the release of a nun kidnapped by al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali.
According to Andrea Gagliarducci, a journalist for ACI Stampa, “In his view, in his allegation, Cardinal Angelo Becciu was a sort of mastermind behind any financial operation which is under accusation here which are the operations that led to the purchase investment of the London luxury building. In the end, Becciu denied all the allegations. He gave a spontaneous declaration this morning. But we have to see how this indictment speech will conclude next week.”
All ten defendants denied any wrongdoing, with some claiming that the tribunal denied them basic defense rights, including access to crucial prosecution evidence during the investigation, which allegedly favored the prosecution. In the defense’s arguments, evidence was presented to suggest that both Pope Francis and the Vatican secretary of state were aware of the various financial investments and transactions and had approved them.
“This is really the first time that there’s been such a major trial regarding Vatican finances. A trial in the Vatican with Vatican prosecutors,” said Ed Pentin. “ The key person in this trial, of course, is Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the former substituter, the deputy secretary of state. He is the first cardinal to be tried by lay judges.”
Alessandro Diddi is expected to continue detailing and defending his complex case in the coming days, and is expected to share his proposed sentences for the accused. The court will then go on summer recess until the end of September when the defense will present its closing arguments. Judge Giuseppe Pignatone has expressed his anticipation for a verdict before the end of the year.
