Setback for prosecution in Vatican ‘trial of the century’ appeal

September 26, 2025

In a severe setback for prosecutors, a Vatican appeals court has agreed to hear the appeals of defendants who were convicted in the Vatican’s “trial of the century,” but declined to take up appeals lodged by the prosecution.

The Vatican’s judicial system allows both defendants and prosecutors to appeal a court ruling. In the trial concluded last year, several defendants were convicted of various crimes of financial misconduct, but acquitted of conspiracy charges. The defendants have appealed the convictions, while the prosecution asked the appeals court to reconsider their conspiracy charge.

In today’s ruling, the appeals court rejected the prosecutors’ claims of conspiracy, saying that their appeal brief only repeated the arguments that had been rejected at trial. So the defendants’ appeals will proceed, while the prosecutors’ appeals will not.

The ruling is a serious loss for the prosecutors, who could now suffer a severe loss in the appeals court, but cannot win. That result contrasts with the court record during the original trial, when several rulings by Pope Francis favored the prosecution.

However the ruling merely opens the possibility that the defendants might see their convictions reversed or their sentences reduced; that result is by no means assured. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the most visible defendant convicted at trial, characterized the appeals-court ruling as “a good sign, but there’s still a ways to go.”

Prosecutors declined to comment on the ruling.

 

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Further information:

• Vatican prosecutors suffer embarrassing loss as tribunal says their appeal is inadmissible (AP)