A cardinal and 9 others will learn their fate in a Vatican financial trial after 2 years of hearings

A once-powerful cardinal and nine other people are to learn their fates when a Vatican tribunal hands down verdicts in a complicated financial trial that has aired the tiny city state's dirty laundry

VATICAN CITY -- A once-powerful cardinal and nine other people are to learn their fate Saturday when a Vatican tribunal hands down verdicts in a complicated financial trial that has aired the tiny city state's dirty laundry and tested its justice system.

Judge Giuseppe Pignatone will read out the verdicts of the three-judge panel in the converted courtroom in the Vatican Museums, where prosecutors and defense attorneys have sparred for 2½ years over the details of a money-losing investment in a luxury London property.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the first-ever cardinal to be prosecuted in the Vatican's criminal court, is accused of embezzlement-related charges in two tangents of the London deal and faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Unlike most defendants, Becciu attended nearly all of the 86 hearings, saying Pope Francis clearly wanted him to face court judgment after Francis himself forced his resignation and removed his privileges as a cardinal before he was even charged.

The trial has raised questions about the rule of law in the city state and Francis’ power as absolute monarch, given that he wields supreme legislative, executive and judicial authority and has exercised it in ways the defense says jeopardized a fair trial.