Vatican arrests two high-ranking officials for leaking secret documents to journalists

2015-11-06 9

VATICAN CITY — Two people were arrested by the Vatican over the weekend, including a high-ranking official of the Roman Curia, on suspicion of leaking confidential documents to the media.

The suspects have been identified as Spanish Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Italian laywoman Francesca Chaouqui, who were members of a commission that Pope Francis set up to advise him on economic reforms in the Curia, Reuters reported. The committee was dissolved after completing its report to the Pope last year.

Balda is a top official at the Vatican's Prefecture for Economic Affairs while Chaouqui is a public relations expert. According to Reuters, both of them are accused of leaking confidential documents to the media including letters to the Pope from Vatican officials complaining about alleged corruption in the Holy See.

The two were arrested just days before two Italian journalists, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, were due to release their books that are set to reveal alleged conspiracies in the Vatican.

CBS reported that the Holy See officials have contacted Italian authorities regarding the punishments for the two authors.

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