The move comes following accusations that Pope Francis' absolute power undermines defendants' rights.

Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi's defence comes as the Vatican tribunal finalises its written reasons for its December 2023 verdicts in the so-called "trial of the century".

The tribunal convicted Cardinal Angelo Becciu and eight others of financial crimes related to a €350 million investment in a London property.

However the tribunal has yet to fully explain its decisions.

Diddi published an essay last month in the peer-reviewed journal Diritto e religioni (Law and Religion), responding to criticisms from two academics and lawyers representing some of the defendants.

Their critiques have raised more fundamental concerns about whether a fair trial is even possible in an absolute monarchy where the pope wields supreme legislative, executive and judicial power — and used it in this case.

Secret decrees

The lawyers argued that the two-year trial and preceding investigation were unfair, highlighting the Pope's secret issuance of four decrees during the investigation. Critics claim these decrees altered Vatican procedures to favour prosecutors.

The four secret decrees, signed by the Pope in 2019 and 2020, granted Vatican prosecutors extensive powers including unchecked wiretapping and the ability to detain suspects without a judge's warrant.

Diddi denied that the decrees impacted the suspects' rights, arguing that they provided an "authentic interpretation" of Vatican norms by the Pope.

He maintained that the decrees merely "disciplined some particular aspects of the investigation" and did not compromise the guarantees offered to the suspects.

However Geraldina Boni, a canon lawyer for Cardinal Becciu's defence, argued that the decrees violated the right to a fair trial since the suspects were unaware - until the trial - of the broad powers granted to prosecutors. One defendant was jailed for ten days during questioning.

Critics have questioned the tribunal's independence. Judges swear obedience to the Pope who has the absolute power to hire and fire them at will.

Diddi asserted the full independence of the tribunal and its judges. He confirmed that the defence had all opportunities to present its case.

"Even though the Holy See isn't a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, it doesn't place itself outside the international community and doesn't renege on the principles that inspire it" Diddi wrote.

Sources

AP News

Crux Now

CathNews New Zealand

In all, the Vatican's head prosecutor, Alessandro Diddi, asked that the trial's 10 defendants serve a cumulative 73 years and one month in prison.

None of the defendants has been found guilty by the Vatican tribunal, which will continue to hear closing arguments this week. The judges have until December to make a ruling on innocence or guilt and issue a sentence.

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The Vatican prosecutor offered to remedy the mistakes by essentially starting over, throwing the trial into question before it really got off the ground.

Deputy prosecutor Alessandro Diddi made the surprise announcement at the first hearing since the trial started in July, saying: "I feel the duty to meet (the defence requests) halfway."

Diddi said his office has always acted to ensure that the rights of the accused were respected. He suggested his proposal was a "common sense" way to address the defence objections.

Defence lawyers told the court Diddi's request was unacceptable and accused Diddi's office of withholding key pieces of evidence from them.

They cited a raft of what they claimed were procedural errors and asked court president Giuseppe Pignatone to annul the 500-page indictment. This action would effectively end the current trial.

The defence maintains the errors by the Vatican prosecution badly harmed their right to a fair trial and ability to mount a defence.

In particular, they want to view videos of five interrogations of Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, a former Vatican official who was first a suspect and then a star witness for the prosecution.

Perlasca is the primary witness against the most prominent defendant, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a once-powerful Vatican official.

The prosecution has accused Becciu, other former Vatican officials or employees and outside middlemen involved in the deal of embezzlement, abuse of office, and fraud. They all have denied wrongdoing.

The trial revolves mainly around the purchase by the Vatican's Secretariat of State of a 350 million-euro investment in a London property.

The venture lost the Vatican tens of millions of euros. Much of the funds were donations from the faithful that were spent on fees to Italian brokers.

Pignatone adjourned the trial after about two hours and said he would announce his decisions on Wednesday morning.

If Pignatone agrees to Diddi's request, he and others on the prosecution team will return to their work with thousands of pages of evidence and documents. In addition, they will question some of the defendants again and other witnesses for the first time.

Sources

AP News

Reuters