Vatican orders senior cardinal to stand trial for financial crimes

A judge in the Vatican orders 10, including a senior Italian cardinal and two former heads of the Vatican’s financial intelligence unit, to stand trial for alleged financial crimes.

A Vatican judge has ordered 10 people to face trial for alleged financial crimes including Angelo Becciu, one of the most influential and senior Italian cardinals in Rome.

Becciu faces charges of abuse of office, subordination and embezzlement. He was an aide to Pope Francis and held a prominent post in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, which oversees donations to the Church. A woman who worked for him was charged with embezzlement last year.

Two former heads of the Vatican’s financial intelligence unit will also face trial on charges of embezzlement, money-laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office.

The charges relate to the purchase of luxury property in London.

The first hearing is set to be held on 27 July, according to a statement on Vatican News.

In a statement released by his lawyers, the cardinal said he maintains his innocence and is the “victim of an organized plot hatched” against him to his detriment, which has exposed him “to unparalleled attacks in the media”.

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