The Vatican criminal court sentenced a high-ranking Italian cardinal to five and a half years’ imprisonment on Saturday in a trial involving the Holy See’s financial dealings, along with nine others accused of fraud.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu, 75, a former close advisor to Pope Francis, is the most senior Catholic Church official to have appeared before the Vatican’s criminal court, the City-State’s civil justice system.
The cardinal was also fined 8,000 euros.
The Vatican prosecutor’s office had requested a sentence of seven years and three months’ imprisonment for Archbishop Becciu, as well as a fine of over 10,000 euros.
“We respect the verdict, but we will certainly lodge an appeal,” said Mgr Becciu’s lawyer, Fabio Vignone.
