The Vatican on Tuesday began the trial of two journalists, a priest and two Vatican employees in order to address allegations that the five individuals were involved in the illegal acquisition of classified documents. The documents were said to contain information relating to the misappropriation of the Roman Catholic Church's finances, according to The New York Times.
Among those accused, the most prominent are Emiliano Fittipaldi, author of "Avarice," and Gianluigi Nuzzi, author of "Merchants at the Temple." The two men utilized the information gathered from the leaked documents to accuse the Vatican of mismanaging and misusing its finances, including funds that were originally intended for charities being used to remodel the houses of church cardinals.
Spanish priest Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, public relations expert Francesca Chaouqui and Vatican official Nicola Maio were arrested earlier this month. They were accused of leaking the classified information to the two journalists, reports UPI News.
According to the Vatican, the defendants violated the "fundamental interests of the Holy See and the State" by acquiring and utilizing the leaked documents. The two journalists, however, have argued that by filing the case against them, the state is violating their right to freedom of the press.
If convicted, the accused risk spending up to eight years in prison.
"We are not martyrs, we are investigative journalists, and some principles must be defended. We just did our job," said Nuzzi, one of the authors.
The journalists' two books were published this month and contain detailed evidence of grave financial mismanagement, greed and irregularities in the Vatican. They also describe the difficulties being faced by Pope Francis as he tries to reform the church.
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