Defense in Vatican ‘trial of the century’ asks prosecutor to recuse himself for questionable conduct

['Nicole Winfield - Associated Press', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] America Magazine 2025-09-23 00:00:00

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Defense lawyers in the Holy See’s “trial of the century” asked the Vatican prosecutor to recuse himself from the appeals trial Monday, arguing he was implicated in questionable behavior according to years of private WhatsApp messages that have shaken the proceedings. They suggest questionable behavior by Vatican police, Diddi and Francis himself. Diddi entered the messages into evidence but redacted all but eight, prompting defense complaints that he was withholding crucial evidence. The defense lawyers also cited an audio file suggesting Vatican Police Commissioner Stefano De Santis gave Chaouqui advice for Perlasca about how to implicate others when he was still a suspect. Chaouqui is now under investigation by Italian and Vatican prosecutors for alleged influence-peddling for her role in Perlasca’s changed testimony.