VATICAN CITY
Independent (UK)
Peter Popham @peterpopham
In 2013, when Pope Francis appointed outside management consultants to shed light on the inner workings of the Vatican, he hoped to bring order to an organisation mired in corruption and intrigue. The embarrassing leaks that resulted in the publication of hundreds of secret letters are believed by many to have contributed to Pope Benedict XVI’s unprecedented step of resigning earlier that year.
Now Pope Francis faces a somewhat similar scandal. But this time, sex and blackmail allegations have been thrown in – and his own management consultant appointees are at the heart of it.
On Monday, the trial of five people resumes inside the Vatican, including Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, a PR expert and the only female member of the Pope’s commission. The other four include Gianluigi Nuzzi, a journalist whose earlier book about papal secrets brought the original “Vatileaks” scandal to a head, and, also from the commission, Lucio Vallejo Balda, a Spanish priest.
The trial centres on claims that Balda, Chaouqui and another plaintiff leaked confidential documents relating to the Vatican’s finances to Nuzzi and another journalist, who is also on trial.
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