Two employees of the Vatican—a Spanish priest and an Italian laywoman—have just been arrested after they were charged with leaking confidential documents.
According to a statement provided by the Vatican to USA Today, the two were members of a now defunct commission that was set up in 2013 by Pope Francis. Lucio Angel Vallegjo Balda and Francesca Chaouqui were tasked to review the Vatican's financial structure. However, they were caught leaking "confidential documents" to an undisclosed individual or organisation, reports said.
The two were detained over the weekend. Chaouqui later agreed to cooperate with the Vatican's investigation.
"As part of criminal investigations carried out by the Vatican police, underway for several months involving the removal and dissemination of news and confidential documents, two individuals were called in last Saturday and Sunday for questioning," the Vatican statement said.
The statement added that "one should remember that disclosure of information and confidential documents is an offense under the law."
The Vatican is now prepared to face two financial exposés that will be published sometime this week because of their leaks. The church accused the publishers of taking advantage of a "seriously unlawful act" of misusing confidential documents.
"As for the books announced for publication in the next few days, let it be clearly stated at this time, as in the past, that such actions are a serious betrayal of trust granted by the Pope," the statement further said. "Publications of this kind do not contribute in any way to establish clarity and truth, but rather to create confusion and partial and tendentious interpretations. We must absolutely avoid the mistake of thinking that this is a way to help the mission of the Pope."
This is actually not the first time that the Vatican struggled with leaks. Back in 2012, Pope Benedict XVI's butler Paolo Gabriele was convicted of stealing private documents, then leaking them to a journalist. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison until he was pardoned by the pope.
