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VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The Vatican’s “trial of the century,” in which 10 defendants, including a cardinal, face charges of fraud and corruption in a shady real estate deal, has already seen a century’s worth of testimony alleging blackmail, scandalous liaisons and secretly taped conversations with Pope Francis. The trial itself, however, has only just begun.

On Tuesday (June 12), a hearing ended the preliminary stage of the trial, which has been going on since July of 2021. 

On July 18, Vatican prosecutors will take center stage at the trial’s next phase. The chief prosecutor, Alessandro Diddi, is expected to lay out the formal charges against the defendants and detail the tortuous maneuvering over the church’s investment in a luxury property in London’s swank Chelsea district that would eventually squander millions of euros in Vatican funds, including monies earmarked for the poor.

The defense is expected to begin no sooner than October, when the trial will step into its third year.

The London property at the heart of the Vatican financial scandal. Image via Google Maps

The scandal’s roots can be traced to 2019, when the Vatican Institute for Religious Works, or Vatican Bank, flagged a suspicious loan request by the Vatican Secretariat of State to obtain full ownership of the prime London real estate. The prosecutors now allege that Italian entrepreneurs colluded with Vatican officials at the secretariat to defraud the Catholic institution of more than 200 million euros.

The hearing on Tuesday focused on procedural issues, which have been a thorn in the side of the prosecutors. Defense lawyers have complained that the Vatican’s criminal law system, mostly inspired by a version of the Italian penal code dating to 1889, lacks the legal protections enshrined in modern law systems.

The legal teams defending Cardinal Angelo Becciu and Fabrizio Tirabassi, both former officials at the Secretariat of State, asked that more documentation be introduced into evidence, especially items related to the financial statements of the Vatican Bank and other financial institutions at the Vatican.

Lawyers for Raffaele Mincione, who sold the London property to the church and is charged with embezzlement and fraud among other crimes, also asked the judges to request more documents, asking that the official contracts signed by the Vatican and financial entities such as Credit Suisse be released to them.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu speaks during a news conference Sept. 25, 2020, in Vatican City. RNS photo by Claire Giangravé

The judges on Tuesday denied both requests, stating that there is sufficient documentation for the case to be adjudicated.

RELATED: Vatican court sentences eco-activists to prison for damaging art

The lawyers for Tirabassi and Enrico Crasso, a longtime investment manager for the Holy See, asked that the testimony of Italian financier Gianluigi Torzi be excluded from the proceeding, as he is also among the defendants in the trial and therefore cannot be considered a witness.

Torzi acted as a broker in the deal that allowed the Secretariat of State to gain full ownership of the property. Vatican prosecutors accused Torzi of blackmail when he refused to relinquish the shares of the fund owning the real estate unless they paid him 15 million euros for his financial services.

Torzi is on the record accusing Crasso and Tirabassi of attempted blackmail and making death threats.

The two men’s lawyers prevailed, with the Vatican judges deciding on Tuesday that Torzi’s testimony against the other defendants in the case will not be considered in the trial.

RELATED: Catholic bishops don’t support Trump’s lies. Is silence enough? Share Tweet

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Politics

Met Police chief ‘frustrated’ at planned protest to support Palestine Action – as government moves to ban the group

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Met Police chief 'frustrated' at planned protest to support Palestine Action - as government moves to ban the group

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley says he is “shocked and frustrated” at a planned protest in support of Palestine Action.

The demonstration, due to take place in Westminster later, comes as the government moves to ban the group under anti-terror laws.

Activists from Palestine Action hit the headlines last week after targeting RAF Brize Norton and damaging two military aircraft in a significant security breach.

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Why did activists target an RAF base?

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will update MPs on the move to proscribe the organisation, which would make it a criminal offence to belong to or support it.

Sir Mark said that – until this happens – the force has “no power in law” to prevent the protest from taking place, but lawbreakers will be “dealt with robustly”.

He added: “This is an organised extremist criminal group, whose proscription as terrorists is being actively considered.

“Members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and last week claimed responsibility for breaking into an airbase and damaging aircraft.

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“Multiple members of the group are awaiting trial accused of serious offences.”

He added that – while the right to protest is essential – “actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as a legitimate protest”.

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Handout photo issued by Palestine Action of damage to Trump Turnberry, which has been vandalised by activists. Palestine Action described it as a 'direct response to the US administration's stated intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza'. Issue date: Saturday March 8, 2025. The golf course in South Ayrshire, owned by the US president, was targeted overnight, with activists painting Gaza Is Not For Sale in three-metre high letters on the lawn, and damaging the greens including the course's most prestig
Image:
Trump’s golf course in Ayrshire was vandalised by Palestine Action. Pic: PA

Over the weekend, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he could not rule out the possibility of a foreign power being behind Palestine Action.

Any move to proscribe the group must be debated and approved by MPs and peers.

Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News, former justice secretary Lord Charlie Falconer suggested that vandalising aircraft would not solely provide legal justification for such a move.

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Plans to ban activist group criticised

Lord Falconer said: “I am not aware of what Palestine Action has done beyond the painting of things on the planes in Brize Norton, they may have done other things I didn’t know.

“But generally, that sort of demonstration wouldn’t justify proscription so there must be something else that I don’t know about.”

Palestine Action has staged a series of protests in recent months – spraying the offices of Allianz Insurance in London, and vandalising Donald Trump’s golf course in Ayrshire.

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US

Regime change: Is Trump about to ‘Make Iran Great Again’?

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Regime change: Is Trump about to 'Make Iran Great Again'?

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The US bombs Iran. Three nuclear sites heavily hit. Cue condemnation from Iran – and promises of retribution.

As the Iranian foreign minister heads to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin and discuss what to do next, we ask: what has happened, why did the Trump administration decide to take action, what’s the response domestically and internationally – and what on earth could happen next.

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

Don’t forget, you can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

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US

The Americans want the attack on Iran’s nuclear sites to be a ‘one-and-done’

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The Americans want the attack on Iran's nuclear sites to be a 'one-and-done'

The Pentagon briefing was big on what happened but short on detail of what happens next.

Neither defence secretary Pete Hegseth nor General Dan “Raisin” Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, can answer that.

Mr Hegseth called the bombing an “incredible and overwhelming success” with “focused and clear” instructions from President Trump.

The focus now is on what follows and that’s not so clear.

The briefing laid out the details of the military deception plan behind Operation Midnight Hammer.

B-2 stealth aircraft were flown west towards the Pacific on Saturday as a decoy, while the B-2s with bunker-busting bombs on board flew east towards Iran.

Israel-Iran live: World continues to react to US attack on nuclear facilities

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What is Operation ‘Midnight Hammer’?

Mr Hegseth called it a plan that took months and weeks of positioning and came down, in the end, to “precision, misdirection and operational security”.

Gen Caine, Mr Trump’s top military man, offered a measured assessment. While Mr Trump had spoken of Iran’s nuclear sites being “obliterated”, Gen Caine revised that downwards when he spoke of “extremely severe damage”.

Full battle damage assessment will reveal the complete picture – only then can the mission’s success be measured in full, mindful that Iran had shifted at least some of its enriched uranium in the days before the strike.

On the politics of it, Mr Hegseth said this wasn’t about regime change in Iran. It might offer precious little reassurance to Tehran, particularly as he also said part of the operation was to defend Israel and the ongoing defence of Israel.

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What next after US-Iran strikes?

If the US is tethered to Israel’s interests to the extent of an unprecedented attack on Iran, where does its influence end?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared almost giddy in response to the US attack. He is a PM strengthened by Mr Trump’s spectacular response to his rhetoric around Iran.

Suspicions weren’t softened around Netanyahu’s influence over Mr Trump when Mr Hegseth was asked about the basis for the attack. He has long lobbied the US president on Iran being close to building a nuclear bomb, contrary to American intelligence which indicates otherwise.

Mr Hegseth was asked what was the new intelligence, was it American or from other countries? He avoided a direct answer, saying only that Mr Trump had looked at all the intelligence information and concluded Iran was a threat.

There were a number of questions about what comes next, with an assortment of non-answers in response from Mr Hegseth.

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Starmer reacts to US strikes on Iran

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A consistent line was that the US wanted Iran to negotiate peace, coupled with the threat of further aggression if it doesn’t.

The US defence secretary said Washington was in touch with Tehran privately and publicly, giving it every opportunity to come to the table, every opportunity for peace.

He made the point that America hadn’t targeted Iranian troops or civilians – clearly, a measure by the US to limit response and leave open a door.

The Americans want this attack to have been a “one-and-done”.

The scenario it’s left with, however, is an Iran talking of a diplomatic door closed and sending its foreign minister travelling to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin.

Iran is wounded, no doubt. Combined attacks have left it degraded and, without a network of support in the Middle East, its ability to strike back is limited. For now, if not necessarily forever.

Donald Trump clearly enjoyed the sugar rush of military success but he will be wary of the come-down and all of its uncertainties.

In circumstances with world implications, he won’t be alone.

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