The appeal trial is scheduled to resume Feb. 3.<\/p>\n
The Vatican\u2019s Court of Cassation has cleared the way for the appeal phase of the Secretariat of State funds trial \u2014 commonly tied in headlines to Cardinal Angelo Becciu \u2014 rejecting last-ditch procedural challenges and accepting the recusal of Vatican Promoter of Justice Alessandro Diddi from the case.<\/p>\n
In two separate rulings \u2014 one brief and another running eight pages \u2014 the court closed the remaining disputes that had stalled the appeal proceedings over the Holy See\u2019s investment in a luxury property on Sloane Avenue in London.<\/p>\n
The Cassation decisions mean the appeal will proceed without Diddi, and they also uphold the appeal court\u2019s earlier finding that the promoter\u2019s office filed its own appeal improperly and outside required procedures and deadlines. As a result, the appeal phase will now focus primarily on defense appeals \u2014 which could at most lead to reduced sentences or even acquittals for some defendants.<\/p>\n
The appeal trial is scheduled to resume Feb. 3.<\/p>\n
What the Cassation court decided<\/p>\n
The case reached the Court of Cassation after a series of procedural clashes in the appeal court, including:<\/p>\n
\u2014 defense motions seeking Diddi\u2019s recusal following intercepted communications suggesting contacts with individuals involved in the wider case;<\/p>\n
\u2014 defense arguments that the promoter\u2019s appeal was inadmissible because it failed to follow procedural rules and timelines; and<\/p>\n
\u2014 a countermove from the promoter\u2019s office seeking to challenge the appeal court itself \u2014 effectively attempting to halt proceedings by disputing the court\u2019s authority to declare the promoter\u2019s appeal inadmissible.<\/p>\n
The Vatican\u2019s Court of Cassation accepted Diddi\u2019s decision to abstain from the case, a move that effectively ends the push to force a formal ruling against him. In its more detailed ruling, the court reaffirmed that the promoter\u2019s appeal was filed incorrectly and that the appeal court acted properly in declaring it inadmissible.<\/p>\n
The court is presided over by Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, with Cardinals Matteo Zuppi, Augusto Paolo Lojudice, and Mauro Gambetti among the judges, alongside other members of the panel.<\/p>\n
Background: London deal and first verdicts<\/p>\n
The broader trial centers on Vatican financial management tied to the Secretariat of State and its London real estate investment. Vatican prosecutors argued that intermediaries worked together to extract money from the Holy See as control of the property shifted between financiers.<\/p>\n
Becciu \u2014 the first cardinal tried by a Vatican civil tribunal following a decision by Pope Francis \u2014 was convicted in the first-instance verdict and sentenced to five years and six months in prison on charges including embezzlement and fraud. Other defendants received prison sentences as well, including Enrico Crasso (seven years), Raffaele Mincione (five years and six months), Cecilia Marogna (three years and nine months), and Gianluigi Torzi (six years). In total, first-instance convictions amounted to about 37 years of prison time, along with an order to confiscate 166 million euros ($193.6 million), though several defendants were acquitted on some counts.<\/p>\n
The appeal phase has unfolded in a changed Vatican context after the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV, who has signaled he intends to let Vatican justice proceed without the kinds of papal interventions that marked earlier stages of the case.<\/p>\n
This story was\u00a0first published\u00a0by ACI Stampa, CNA\u2019s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by\u00a0CNA.<\/p>\n