The end of the Vatileaks 2 Trial?

The “Vatileaks 2” trial seems finally to be ending. It started on November 24, 2015, and the final hearings have been scheduled by the Vatican Tribunal for July 4, 5 and 6, 2016. The hearings will be dedicated to the closing argument of the prosecution and the argument for the defense.

Three persons are accused of having orchestrated the leak of confidential documents. One is a prelate, Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, former secretary of the commission instituted to reform the Vatican. The other two are laymen, Francesca Chaouqui and Nicola Maio. The latter two were members of the commission to study the financial and administrative reform of the Vatican (COSEA) set up by Pope Francis at the beginning of his pontificate to work for financial transparency at the Vatican.

Two Italian journalists are also present on the bench with the accused for having revealed the contents of these documents in two books that were published on November 5, 2015. They are Gianluigi Nuzzi, author of Way of the Cross, who had been involved from the start with the first “Vatileaks” affair in 2012 with his book entitled His Holiness. The second journalist indicted is Emiliano Fittipaldi, author of Avarice, which in particular accuses Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, former Secretary of State of the Holy See, of embezzling funds.

On May 26, 2016, La Croix observed that the whole trial has unfolded “in a vaudeville-like atmosphere, with Francesca Chaouqui and Msgr. Balda unabashedly displaying their mutual hatred.” This trial “also highlighted the detestable atmosphere that prevailed within the COSEA.”

The testimony of an officer of Vatican gendarmerie, corroborated by e-mail exchanges, confirmed the complicity of Francesca Chaouqui, Msgr. Balda, and Nicola Maio, along with their intention to harm others, in particular Cardinal Bertone, former Secretary of State of the Holy See. According to La Croix, “all three seem to have wanted to take revenge for not getting positions in the new secretariat for economic affairs” that was created at the conclusion of the work of the COSEA.

Nicola Maio and Francesca Chaouqui proclaim their innocence, while Msgr. Balda admitted to handing over a five-page document to Gianluigi Nuzzi containing 87 passwords allowing access to the confidential e-mails of the commission. The French daily newspaper notes that “the Spanish prelate is condemned particularly by the other participants in the trial. Not only Francesca Chaouqui, but also two of her former female employees have described him on the stand as an authoritarian man who humiliates or even threatens his subordinates.”

As for Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, their self-defense consists in saying that they “did their job as journalists in a normal way.”

The trial was interrupted for three months, from January to March, to take the time to examine the e-mail exchanges and text messages between the accused parties. It was halted again in April because of the state of Francesca Chaouqui’s health; she gave birth to a little boy in June. In all probability, the trial should come to an end by early July.

Sources: DICI no. 338 - July 1, 2016