Vatican judge on financial trial: Main witness unreliable

Vatican City - Almost a year has passed since the end of the historic financial trial at the Vatican. Now the judges have presented their reasons for their judgement. In it, they also address one of the most controversial figures in the trial.

Published on 30.10.2024 at 16:45 –

The testimony of the former main witness in the Vatican financial trial played no role in the judgement. This emerges from the judges' reasons for judgement published by the Vatican on Wednesday. The statements made by Vatican official Alberto Perlasca (64) were of no independent probative value for the purposes of the present proceedings, according to the document.

Perlasca once headed the administrative office in the Vatican Secretariat of State through which the loss-making investment in a London property was channelled - a line of accusation in the financial proceedings. Initially, the clergyman was among the suspects. Perlasca then co-operated with the investigating authorities and from then on acted as one of the main witnesses in the proceedings. At the same time, he appeared as an aggrieved party.

No convincing answers

On many points, Perlasca did not give convincing answers or even made statements that were incompatible with other findings in the files. The judges described his statements and those of two other witnesses as "unreliable" and "contradictory". None of the defendants were found guilty on the basis of their statements.

Last December, the largest financial trial in Vatican history came to an end with the conviction of nine defendants. For the first time, a cardinal was among those convicted: 76-year-old Italian Angelo Becciu. The former substitute in the Secretariat of State is to spend five years and six months behind bars and pay a fine of 8,000 euros. (KNA)