Defense lawyers in the Holy See’s “trial of the century” asked the Vatican prosecutor to recuse himself from the appeals trial Monday, arguing he was implicated in questionable behavior according to years of private WhatsApp messages that have shaken the proceedings.
The chats show Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi has a personal interest in the outcome that should preclude him from heading the prosecution, the lawyers said in separate motions on the opening day of the appeals trial.
The tribunal president, Archbishop Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, accepted the motions and ordered Diddi to respond within three days, underscoring how the chats have shifted the ground under the Vatican’s most ambitious and high-profile prosecution of alleged financial misconduct.
The trial concerning the Vatican’s 350 million euro ($412 million) investment in a London property resulted in the 2023 conviction of nine people on a host of finance-related charges. The star defendant was Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once a close confidante of Pope Francis and a future papal contender.
The investigation took a crucial turn in August 2020 when the prime suspect in the London deal, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, changed his story and turned on his onetime boss, Becciu. Perlasca escaped indictment and became a prime prosecution witness; Becciu was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to 5 1/2 years.
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