VATICAN CITY
Crux
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent March 14, 2016
ROME — A trial against three former officials of a Vatican commission and two journalists, all accused of illegally obtaining and publishing documents revealing mismanagement of Church finances, resumed on Saturday with the first public hearings set for Monday and Tuesday.
Initially Vatican officials, including Pope Francis, had hoped the trial could be wrapped up quickly, before the pontiff’s Holy Year of Mercy began on Dec. 8. After a slew of requests for expert analysis and witnesses from defense attorneys, however, the trial before a three-judge panel was suspended in November and resumed only this week.
On Saturday, the trial judge met with technical experts in a closed-doors session to examine the admissibility of new computer evidence. Monday and Tuesday’s hearings will be dedicated to witness testimony.
Although it hasn’t been specified who will take part, some top Vatican officials have been called to testify. They include Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state; Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril y Castelló, president of a commission working on the reform of the Institute for the Works of Religion, often referred to as the “Vatican bank,” and Polish Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, head of papal charities.
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