Vatican’s financial ‘trial of the century’ to announce verdict in test of Pope Francis’ reforms – By Phoebe Natanson (ABC News) / Dec 16, 2023
Cardinal Becciu and 9 others are on trial for alleged financial crimes.
ROME — The first chapter of the Vatican’s sprawling financial “trial of the century” is expected to come to an end on Saturday after 2 1/2 years and 85 hearings with the reading of the verdict.
Many Vatican observers see the trial as a test of whether Pope Francis’ attempts to reform and modernize Vatican management of its finances — after years of financial scandals — are really working. Appeals by the defendants could prolong the case which has roiled the Vatican for years.
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, a close adviser to Francis who was once touted as a possible papal contender, and 9 fellow defendants went on trial in 2021 for charges of embezzlement and other financial crimes after an investigation into a 350-million euro investment made by the Vatican Secretariat of State — the office responsible for the political and diplomatic activity of the Holy See — in a London high-end property.
