The Vatican is no stranger to intrigue, but even by its own standards, the so-called "trial of the century" has gripped the world with its dramatic twists, shadowy dealings, and cast of characters that seem straight out of a thriller novel. Now, as the appeals trial opens in Vatican City on Monday, September 22, 2025, the story is set to take yet another extraordinary turn—one that could further expose the inner workings of one of the world’s most secretive institutions.
The case at the center of this legal drama revolves around the Holy See’s ill-fated 350 million euro investment in a London luxury property. According to Associated Press, prosecutors alleged that a web of brokers and Vatican monsignors managed to siphon off tens of millions of euros in fees and commissions during the acquisition, only to then extort the Holy See for another 15 million euros (about $16.5 million) to relinquish control of the property. The original trial, which began in 2021, was already a spectacle—blending elements of high-stakes finance, ecclesiastical politics, and even international ransom payments.
But the trial’s significance extends far beyond the fate of a single real estate deal. As AP reports, the investigation spawned two major tangents, both centering on Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once considered a powerful contender for the papacy. One of these tangents led to a bombshell revelation: Pope Francis himself had authorized up to 1 million euros in ransom to free a nun kidnapped by al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali. The Vatican’s willingness to negotiate with terrorists, and the pope’s direct involvement, sent shockwaves through both religious and diplomatic circles.
The verdicts delivered in the first trial were equally dramatic. Cardinal Becciu was convicted of embezzlement for funneling 100,000 euros in Vatican money to a charity run by his brother and for authorizing hundreds of thousands of euros in payments to a self-styled security analyst. He received a sentence of five and a half years in prison. Eight other defendants were also convicted on charges ranging from embezzlement to abuse of office and fraud, though they were acquitted of numerous other counts. All have maintained their innocence and filed appeals.
As the appeals trial gets underway, new evidence threatens to upend the entire process. In the two years since the original verdicts, thousands of pages of WhatsApp text and audio messages exchanged between key players have come to light, many of them published by Domani newspaper. These messages suggest questionable conduct not just by Vatican police and prosecutors, but even by Pope Francis himself. One particularly telling message warns, “If it gets out that we all agreed, it’s the end. Because if we all knew, the trial is null and void and it’s a conspiracy.”
Defense lawyers for Becciu and other defendants are now seeking to have these chats admitted as evidence, arguing that they bolster claims their clients did not receive a fair trial in what amounts to an absolute monarchy. At least one attorney devoted 80 pages of his appeals motion solely to the contents of the chats. According to AP, the defense contends that the investigation—championed by Pope Francis as a sign of his commitment to financial reform—was tainted from the outset by behind-the-scenes maneuvering and a lack of impartiality.
What effect these revelations will have on the appeals remains uncertain. Vatican officials have downplayed their relevance, insisting the tribunal did not rely on testimony from the individuals involved in the chats. Still, the messages have already generated follow-on criminal complaints in both Vatican and Italian courts, and defense lawyers are prepared to escalate their claims to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. If the Vatican verdicts are upheld, foreign courts—including those in Italy and the United Kingdom—may be called upon to enforce prison sentences or seize financial assets, potentially weighing in on whether the original trial met international standards of fairness.
At the heart of the controversy lies the question of Pope Francis’s role. The trial revealed that Francis had intervened directly in the investigation by issuing four secret decrees in 2019 and 2020. These decrees granted prosecutors sweeping powers, including the authority to conduct unchecked wiretapping and to deviate from existing Vatican laws. Defense lawyers argue that such secret interventions by a leader wielding supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power demonstrate a lack of separation between branches of government—making a fair trial impossible. The tribunal dismissed the significance of the decrees, while the prosecutor insisted they provided necessary guarantees.
The WhatsApp messages, however, suggest Francis’s involvement was even deeper than previously known. There are accounts of prosecutors consulting with the pope about the case, claims by Francesca Chaouqui—a public relations specialist with a notorious past in the Vatican leaks scandal—that she was acting on the pope’s behalf, and detailed descriptions of interactions between Francis and Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, Becciu’s former deputy. In fact, after Perlasca’s Vatican bank accounts were frozen, Francis reportedly lent him money. The correspondence includes photos of letters between Francis and Perlasca, including one in which Perlasca asks the pope for forgiveness and assistance in securing a new job in the Vatican’s diplomatic service after deciding to cooperate with prosecutors.
“Dear brother,” Francis wrote to Perlasca on August 19, 2020, just days before a crucial round of questioning. “Thanks so much for your letter of yesterday. I am close to you and I pray for you. Please do the same for me. You can count on me.” Perlasca, for his part, went from being a prime suspect to cooperating with prosecutors, ultimately being listed as an injured party entitled to damages. He is now a prosecutor in another Vatican court.
Perhaps the most colorful figure in this unfolding drama is Francesca Chaouqui. Known for her involvement in the 2015-2016 “Vatileaks” scandal—where she was convicted of leaking confidential Vatican documents to journalists—Chaouqui played a pivotal role in persuading Perlasca to turn on Becciu. She is said to have orchestrated an elaborate plot, in collaboration with Perlasca’s family friend Genevieve Ciferri, to encourage him to change his testimony. According to the messages, Chaouqui posed as a retired magistrate and passed legal advice to Perlasca through Ciferri. However, Ciferri later grew suspicious of Chaouqui’s claims about her connections to investigators and the pope, eventually turning over some of the chats to Vatican prosecutors.
In a statement to AP, Ciferri downplayed the significance of the chats to the appeals trial, stating, “Continuing to exaggerate the importance of the chat messages makes no sense and is only a useless pretext, while the appeal will be based on the actual crimes and the individual responsibilities of each person for each count.”
Meanwhile, Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi has doubled down on his original theory of a grand conspiracy to defraud the Holy See, asking the court to reconsider nearly all of the acquittals from the first trial. Diddi declined to comment on the chat messages when contacted by AP.
As the appeals proceed, the Vatican maintains that the original trial was conducted fairly, with ample opportunity for the defense to present its case. But with thousands of pages of private messages now in the public domain and mounting questions about the impartiality of the investigation, the world is watching closely. Will the appeals trial bring closure to this remarkable saga, or will it open yet another chapter in the Vatican’s long history of secrets and scandals?
Whatever the outcome, the Vatican’s “trial of the century” has already left an indelible mark on the institution, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the complex and often murky world behind its ancient walls.