5 charged in Vatican document leak case
(Vatican) The Vatican formally charged five people in connection with the unauthorized and illicit sharing of sensitive and privileged documents and information, including a pair of journalists who have written recently published books detailing alleged mismanagement in the Vatican, two officials, and a secretary to one of the officials.
A statement from the Press Office of the Holy See on Friday included the detailed charge sheet, which named the journalists, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, as well as the former Vatican officials, Msgr. Lucio Vallejo Balda and Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, along with Msgr. Vallejo’s secretary, Nicola Maio.
Vallejo, Chaouqui, and Maio, are charged with criminal conspiracy “to divulge information and documents concerning the fundamental interests of the Holy See and the [Vatican City] State”, while all five defendants are charged with criminal misappropriation and misuse of Vatican documents.
A hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 24th, 2015, at 10:30 AM, in the Vatican criminal court.