Published time: 2 Nov, 2015 21:27
The
Vatican capped a months-long investigation into internal leaks to the
media by arresting two high-profile officials over the weekend, just
days before the publication of a pair of books promising incendiary
revelations about the Holy See.
“The leaking of confidential information and documents is a crime,”said a communiqué from the Vatican, which has its own police force and legal system.
Monsignor
Lucio Ángel Vallejo Balda, a member of the Curia, the Catholic Church’s
de-facto central government, was arrested along with 33-year-old
Francesca Chaouqui, a laywoman who had previously worked as a corporate
lobbyist and public relations specialist. Vallejo Balda served as the
secretary of COSEA, a special taskforce assembled by Pope Francis in
2013 to make the Vatican’s opaque financial practices more transparent,
and Chaouqui had been invited to join the group by the Monsignor.
Chaouqui,
who has previously attracted controversy for posting nude photos of
herself and making anti-Vatican comments on social media, has since been
released, with a communiqué saying there was no evidence with which to
indict her, and that she had agreed to co-operate with the
investigation. Vallejo Balda, a 54-year-old Spaniard, remains in
custody.
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