Senior Vatican official to testify in English High Court case

In a rare departure from the Vatican’s typical claims of diplomatic immunity, Archbishop Peña Parra, who has served Pope Francis as Substitute for the Secretariat of State since 2018, will give evidence in the case brought by Raffaele Mincione, according to The Times.

Mincione is one of a number of individuals — including a cardinal — convicted of fraud offences in connection with the Holy See’s €350 million investment in an office block in Knightsbridge in west London, which was later sold at a €140 million loss.

He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years’ imprisonment but remains free pending an appeal which he says has been delayed as a result of the Vatican’s failure to provide him with a detailed reasoning of its decision more than seven months after his sentencing.

The English High Court will this week begin hearing Mincione’s claim that his trial, sometimes dubbed “the Vatican’s trial of the century”, contravened international law and breached his human rights.

He has also lodged a complaint with the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers with the support of Rodney Dixon KC and Sebastian Bates of London-based Temple Garden Chambers.