Vatican's financial 'trial of the century' to announce verdict in test of Pope Francis' reforms

Many Vatican observers see the trial as a test of whether Pope Francis' attempts to reform and modernize Vatican management of its finances are really working.

ROME -- The first chapter of the Vatican's sprawling financial "trial of the century" is expected to come to an end on Saturday after 2 1/2 years and 85 hearings with the reading of the verdict.

Many Vatican observers see the trial as a test of whether Pope Francis' attempts to reform and modernize Vatican management of its finances -- after years of financial scandals -- are really working. Appeals by the defendants could prolong the case which has roiled the Vatican for years.

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, a close adviser to Francis who was once touted as a possible papal contender, and 9 fellow defendants went on trial in 2021 for charges of embezzlement and other financial crimes after an investigation into a 350-million euro investment made by the Vatican Secretariat of State -- the office responsible for the political and diplomatic activity of the Holy See -- in a London high-end property.

Prosecutors allege brokers and Vatican officials fleeced the Holy See of tens of millions of euros in fees and commissions in connection with the investment, and then extorted the Vatican for 15 million euros ($16.5 million) to cede control of the property, the Associated Press reported.

There are also charges of embezzlement over the Italian Cardinal Becciu's alleged donation of Vatican funds to a charity run by his brother and the mysterious payouts of around $600,000 for the liberation of a missionary nun kidnapped in Mali in 2017 by Islamic militants.