The so-called Vatileaks 2
trial into the leaking and publishing of confidential Vatican
documents was adjourned Thursday until April 6.
The trial was adjourned after PR expert Francesca
Chaouqui, one of the five defendants, presented medical papers
showing she needed "a period of absolute rest" since she is
six-months pregnant.
This week the Vatican tribunal heard testimony from
Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda, another of the defendants, on
the leaking of classified Holy See documents to two
investigative reporters.
On Monday the Spanish prelate, a former member of the
now-defunct COSEA commission set up to advise Pope Francis on
the reform of the Holy See's economic and administrative
structure, admitted leaking the documents.
"Yes, I handed over documents," Vallejo Balda told the
court, adding that he had acted under pressure from co-defendant
Chaouqui who allegedly also tried to seduce him.
"Francesca said she belonged to the secret services, indeed
that she was the number two in the Italian secret services," he
said of the PR expert and fellow COSEA member.
Vallejo Balda then said he "handed over a list of five
pages with 87 passwords" to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.
Nuzzi, along with Emiliano Fittipaldi, is on trial for
spreading classified information.
"But I had the feeling he had them already," he continued.
"Perhaps I wasn't fully lucid, and I also thought my email
had already been looked at," the prelate said.
Vallejo Balda also described an alleged shadow committee
within COESA that acted with the aim of passing documents to the
press.
"When I tried to understand Chaouqui's world she took me to
lunch with Luigi Bisignani, Paolo Berlusconi, Gianni Letta,
people who are well known within the Holy See," he said.
"I didn't have the judicial certainty or the proof, but the
moral certainty that Francesca had other not entirely legitimate
interests," Vallejo Balda added.
In his testimony the prelate spoke of "exchanging"
documents with Fittipaldi and said he believed Nuzzi had been
informed about his personal affairs by Chaouqui.
He said he had to seek psychological help due to the
stress.
The defence witnesses are expected to be heard after
Easter.
Fittipaldi and Nuzzi are on trial for using the documents
to write two exposé-style books, respectively Avarice and The
Way of the Cross, which respectively examine the Vatican's
financial empire and Pope Francis's efforts to bring about
reform.
The fifth defendant is Vallejo Balda's former assistant,
Nicola Maio.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
