Vatican City: A fresh chapter in the Vatican’s most closely watched financial scandal begins today, as the appeal phase of the so-called “London property trial” opens in the newly established chambers of the Vatican Tribunal. Nearly two years after the first verdict, the court will now hear challenges to the 2023 convictions that exposed deep fissures within the Holy See’s financial system.
The appeal hearings, scheduled between September 22 and 26, take place under a new pontificate and inside a newly inaugurated courtroom symbolic markers of change, yet also reminders of the unresolved controversies surrounding the Vatican’s financial governance. It comes 644 days after the initial ruling, which in December 2023 convicted ten individuals on charges ranging from fraud and embezzlement to corruption, tied primarily to the Secretariat of State’s ill-fated purchase of a London property in Sloane Avenue.
The original trial, which ran from July 2022 to December 2023, consumed 86 hearings the longest in Vatican history. At its center stood the acquisition of a luxury London building, which investigators said left the Holy See with losses of at least €139 million. The trial gained notoriety worldwide not only for its scale but also for placing Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, once a powerful Vatican figure, among the defendants.
The case expanded beyond the property deal, touching on dubious payments to a Sardinian cooperative and allegations that Vatican funds were misused to finance luxury purchases under the guise of freeing kidnapped missionaries. Pope Leo XIV himself addressed the scandal in a September 18 interview, lamenting that “millions were lost because of that London building.”
Cardinal Becciu, sentenced to five years and six months in prison, quickly appealed the verdict, as did several other defendants, including financiers, lawyers, and former Vatican officials. The appeal is being overseen by Archbishop Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, dean of the Roman Rota, alongside two lay judges.
Defense lawyers are expected to press “additional grounds” in their appeals, with particular focus on evidence handling and procedural questions that became flashpoints during the first trial.
Much of the debate has centered on Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, once head of the Secretariat of State’s Administrative Office. His testimony triggered the initial investigation but was later deemed unreliable by the court. Allegations surfaced that two women Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui and Genoveffa Ciferri manipulated Perlasca through WhatsApp messages, with Ciferri even posing as an elderly magistrate.
Those conversations, eventually published by Italian media, fueled defense claims that the trial was “contaminated” by behind-the-scenes plotting and personal vendettas. However, the tribunal’s 2023 judgment insisted that Perlasca’s testimony had no impact on the guilty findings, which were instead based on unchallenged documentary evidence.
Another contentious element was the papal Rescripta, decrees issued by Pope Francis granting prosecutors extraordinary procedural powers. Defense teams argued these interventions undermined the right to a fair trial by allowing selective disclosure of documents.
The Vatican Tribunal, under President Giuseppe Pignatone, dismissed such concerns, affirming that due process was respected. Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi who also leads the appeal case maintained that the Rescripta merely clarified procedures and safeguarded legal integrity.
Alongside Cardinal Becciu, the following defendants have filed appeals:
Enrico Crasso, former Vatican financial adviser (7 years in prison, €10,000 fine, permanent disqualification from office);
Raffaele Mincione, financier (5 years 6 months, €8,000 fine, permanent disqualification);
Fabrizio Tirabassi, ex-Secretariat of State official (7 years, €10,000 fine, permanent disqualification);
Nicola Squillace, lawyer (1 year 10 months, suspended);
Gianluigi Torzi, broker (6 years, €6,000 fine, special supervision);
Cecilia Marogna, consultant (3 years 9 months, temporary disqualification).
The Promoter of Justice, Alessandro Diddi, has also appealed parts of the ruling, though the Secretariat of State and APSA civil parties in the first trial have opted out of this phase.
The first hearing will feature a summary by the reporting judge, followed by the presentation of each appeal case. Given the complexity and high stakes, observers expect months of legal argument, with the Vatican once again in the spotlight over how it manages not only money but also justice within its sovereign system.
For Cardinal Becciu and others, the appeal represents a last chance to overturn convictions they describe as unjust. For the Vatican, it is another test of transparency and accountability under the new papacy a trial that could shape both its financial credibility and moral authority.