Vatican leaks scandal: Five face trial in Holy See

Five people are set to go on trial in the Vatican accused of leaking and publishing secret documents revealing mismanagement in the Holy See. Two journalists who cited the documents in two books will face the tribunal, along with two members of a papal commission and an assistant. If convicted, they could be jailed for […]

Five people are set to go on trial in the Vatican accused of leaking and publishing secret documents revealing mismanagement in the Holy See.
Two journalists who cited the documents in two books will face the tribunal, along with two members of a papal commission and an assistant.
If convicted, they could be jailed for up to eight years.
Media groups have condemned the trial. One of the journalists charged called it “an attack on press freedom”.
The journalists, Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi, carried allegations of the misuse of charitable and other funds in their books Merchants in the Temple and Avarice.
The allegations included the lavish refurbishment of apartments for cardinals and others.
The three accused of leaking the documents are a Spanish priest and an Italian public relations expert who sat on a commission which advised the Pope on economic reform, along with the priest’s secretary.