The appeals hearing for the management of the Vatican Secretariat of State's funds begins in the new Vatican tribunal hall, inaugurated by the Pope last Thursday and located on the ground floor of the Apostolic Palace. The hearing is linked to the purchase of the now-famous London building, a complex real estate transaction that resulted in an estimated loss to the Vatican coffers of at least 139 million euros.
In the first instance trial, which took place between 2022 and 2023, ten defendants were convicted, including Cardinal Angelo Maria Becciu of Pattada (5 years and 6 months for embezzlement and abuse of office). The first hearing was immediately marked by the request for recusal of the Promoter of Justice of the Vatican, Alessandro Diddi, who had also been a prosecutor in the first instance trial.
In addition to Cardinal Becciu, who remained outside the Conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV last May, other defendants have also appealed. These are Enrico Crasso, a former financial advisor to the Secretariat of State (sentenced to seven years in prison); financier Raffaele Mincione (five years and six months); former employee of the Secretariat of State, Fabrizio Tirabassi (seven years in prison); lawyer Nicola Squillace (one year and ten months in prison); broker Gianluigi Torzi (six years); and manager Cecilia Marogna (three years and nine months).
After a brief deliberation, the Court of Appeal declared the motion for recusal admissible and ordered the registry, after the three-day deadline established by the Code of Criminal Procedure, to transmit the newly issued order and Diddi's possible responses to the Court of Cassation. Attached to the motion for recusal are chats between Cardinal Becciu's two accusers and one of them with the deputy Msgr. Pena Parra. Specifically, these are the "Whatsapp chat between Mrs. Genoveffa Ciferri and the Promoter Alessandro Diddi, on the latter's private mobile phone from November 26, 2022, to March 22, 2023, with the last messages exchanged on November 30, 2022; WhatsApp chat between Mrs. Genoveffa Ciferri and Mrs. Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui from August 9, 2020, to June 4, 2024; WhatsApp chat between Ms. Ciferri and Msgr. Peña Parra from September 18, 2020 to May 26, 2024. "From a comprehensive reading and listening to the messages contained therein," the petition states, "it is clear that, during the investigation phase of these proceedings, after the first interrogation of Msgr. Alberto Perlasca on April 29, 2020, and during the trial before the Tribunal, an activity was carried out aimed at directing and influencing Msgr. Perlasca , first as a suspect and subsequently as a witness for the prosecution, to make statements against Cardinal Angelo Becciu and the other current suspects, with the promise/projection that only in this way would he not be put on trial and his case would be dismissed (as actually happened)."
" I finally have the opportunity to defend myself from a series of allegations," Diddi said. "I thank the defense team for this initiative. I want to use the three-day hearing to calmly express my views, so as to dispel the doubts that have arisen in recent months about the conduct of the investigation." "There have been allegations," Diddi reiterated, alluding to the alleged role of the chats and the memo by Msgr. Alberto Perlasca, which, as a series of media investigations later revealed, had been dictated by a fake magistrate who was actually former lobbyist Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui. "I would like to point out," Diddi added, "that I hope there is no pressure. I am representing the prosecution by law, and I am not here by choice."
The Vatican Court of Cassation is composed of four judges. They are: the president, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life and Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church; and Cardinals Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna; Augusto Paolo Lojudice, Archbishop of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino; and Mauro Gambetti, Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City.
(Unioneonline)