VATICAN CITY
Catholic Philly
BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A former consultant to a pontifical commission vehemently denied giving private documents regarding the Vatican’s financial reform to two journalists.
Francesca Chaouqui, a member of the former Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See, replied, “absolutely not” when asked by a Vatican prosecutor if she gave documentation to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.
She also denied having had a sexual relationship with Spanish Msgr. Lucio Vallejo Balda, the secretary of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See.
The trial resumed April 6 after the court granted Chaouqui, who is pregnant, a three-week postponement after her doctor recommended 20 days of bed rest.
Chaouqui is on trial along with Msgr. Vallejo Balda, Nicola Maio, the monsignor’s former assistant; and two journalists: Nuzzi, author of “Merchants in the Temple,” and Emiliano Fittipaldi, author of “Avarice.”
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