Vatican Tries Cardinal in Test of Pope’s Transparency Drive

VATICAN CITY—Cardinal Giovanni Becciu, after 1 of the most strong adult males in the Vatican, went on demo Tuesday for embezzlement and other alleged crimes, as a scandal that has posed 1 of the greatest exams of Pope Francis’s pontificate spilled out into the open up.

It is the initially time that a cardinal has long gone on demo in Vatican City’s criminal court.

The concentrate of the prosecutors’ case is the Vatican’s expense in a high-priced piece of London genuine estate that they say was a culpably reckless use of church cash earmarked for charity. They say that the Vatican dropped tens of tens of millions of dollars on the expense.

The demo of Cardinal Becciu and 9 some others will serve for lots of as a check of the pope’s overhauls aimed at bringing extra transparency to the Vatican’s finances and of the Vatican justice system’s potential to implement accountability in its highest ranks.

Pope Francis, who individually authorised the indictment, has pointed to the probe as proof that his reforms have been helpful. But defendants are expected to argue that transactions were manufactured with the approval of substantial Vatican officials who have not been indicted and who keep on being in workplace now, elevating the likelihood that the demo will be a showcase of corruption and incompetence relatively than reform.