The trial of five people, including two journalists, for allegedly leaking confidential financial documents of the Holy See resumed today.
In a private hearing of Vatican judges, lawyers and defendants, a report compiled on the electronic communications between some of the accused was assessed.
Fr Federico Lombardi, Director of the Holy See Press Office, said the hearing took place behind closed doors to examine which material from the report could be used as evidence.
The next hearing is due to take place on Monday afternoon and another is scheduled for Tuesday.
According to Italian news agency Ansa, one of the defendants, Mgr Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, has been put back into a Vatican prison cell. The 54-year-old Spanish priest had been held in custody for a period of two months and has most recently been under house arrest. He has been put back into prison to ensure he does not tamper with evidence before the trial.
The priest is charged, along with Francesca Chaouqui, 34, a PR consultant, with revealing material from a papal commission they sat on related to the overhaul of the Vatican administration. The prosecution allege they gave documents to two journalists: Gianluigi Nuzzi, who broke the first so-called Vatileaks story in 2012, and Emiliano Fittipaldi. Both of the journalists wrote books on the basis of the material.
The defendants are being prosecuted under a law created by the Pope criminalising leaking. They face a maximum of eight years in prison if convicted. The Vatican City State has its own legal system and a number of holding cells (it has no long term prison).
There has been pressure on Pope Francis to end the trial which has been something of an embarrassing distraction, and a number have speculated that he will offer the accused a papal pardon.
But Chaouqui, who is due to give birth in July, has said she will refuse this offer and wants the “whole truth” to be revealed.
She is planning to write a book which she says will lift the lid on the internal resistance to Francis’ financial reforms.
The leaked material revealed opposition to the Pope’s planned overhaul of Vatican finances and included details such as the average cost of making a saint (€500,000) and the size of the flats lived in by cardinals in Rome.
This week the Pope approved new rules aimed at ensuring transparency and rigorous accounting protocols in relation to the funding of saints causes.
All the defendants deny the charges.
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