VATICAN CITY
Crux
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent November 21, 2015
ROME — A Vatican judge has indicted a monsignor, two former members of an expired papal commission, and two Italian journalists for allegedly disseminating secret internal documents regarding the Holy See’s finances. They will stand trial for “procuring and revealing” confidential material.
The trial will begin Tuesday, one day before Pope Francis is set to depart for a five-day trip to Kenya, Uganda, and war-torn Central African Republic.
According to information provided by the Vatican’s Office for the Promotion of Justice, those who refuse to attend will be tried “in absentia.” That’s likely a reference to the two journalists, both of whom refused to be interrogated by Vatican prosecutors and said they won’t show up for a trial.
The five facing charges are Spanish Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, Italian public relations expert Francesca Chaouqui, Italian layman Nicola Maio (Vallejo’s assistant), and reporters Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who each wrote recently released books that relied on leaked documents.
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