The 73-year-old Giovanni Angelo Becciu, formerly a top figure in the Vatican Secretariat of State, is the most prominent figure among the accused. He and Monsignor Mauro Carlino, a former private secretary of the Deputy Secretary of State, appeared on Tuesday, while the other eight defendants were absent, represented by their respective lawyers, in the first preparatory session before Vatican magistrates in a stately hall at the Vatican Museum. That session lasted over seven hours, according to the Italian newspaper Avvenire. The next hearing is scheduled for October 5th.

In a statement through his lawyer on Tuesday, the cardinal said that he was “calm” and awaited the continuation of the trial to prove his innocence of all the accusations against him. This writes the Catholic News Agency.

Becciu will be the first cardinal to be tried by a Court of the Vatican City State since its constitution in 1929.

Mafia

According to observers, the process could take years. The court president is the former mafia fighter and ex-prosecutor of the Italian justice department Giuseppe Pignatone. The Pope appointed him in 2019, shortly after five top figures in the Vatican justice department were sacked over reports of suspicious transactions.

Becciu resigned last year after he himself was linked with a controversial real estate deal in London. He admitted, however, that he was ordered to resign by Pope Francis himself. Resignations at this level of the Vatican are extremely rare.

According to the BBC, Becciu said that he was suspected of giving Church money to his brothers. The 73-year old denied any wrongdoing, however.

In 2014, the Vatican Secretariat of State had invested in a former Harrods store in the expensive Chelsea district, where luxury apartments would be built. The Vatican was found to have paid far too much and ultimately lost 150 million pounds (176 million euros) on the failed investment.

Francis fired a total of five Vatican employees over the London deal. An investigation was launched to determine if the bureaucrats were being scammed or if they were taking advantage of the transactions themselves. That investigation led to the trial. Becciu’s lawyer expects that “numerous pieces of evidence and witnesses will prove his innocence in relation to any allegation.” Other suspects in the trial include financial brokers, Vatican officials and a lawyer.

Pope Francis has made putting the finances of the Roman Catholic Church in order a pillar of his papacy. “I believe that this process marks a turning point that could lead to greater credibility of the Holy See in the economic field,” said Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, the Vatican’s economics minister. “The fact that this process is taking place means that certain internal controls are working: the allegations came from the Vatican.”