VATICAN CITY — A Vatican judge has indicted five people, including two journalists and a high-ranking Vatican monsignor, in the latest scandal involving leaked documents cited in recent books alleging financial malfeasance in the Roman Catholic Church bureaucracy.
The Vatican said in a statement Saturday that two members of Pope Francis’ reforms commission and a newly identified assistant were indicted on charges of disclosing confidential Vatican information.
Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda and Francesca Chaouqui were arrested by the Vatican earlier this month. The indictment also identifies for first time an assistant to Balda, Nicola Maio, as a suspect.
Journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who both published books this month, were indicted on charges of soliciting the documents.
The trial is set to start Tuesday.
Comments