Two journalists are facing their first hearing before a Vatican judge on Tuesday in a high-profile case that has raised questions about the church’s commitment to press freedom.

At the centre of the case lie sensational allegations about former Vatican insiders, including a high-ranking monsignor from Spain, who are accused of giving two journalists troves of confidential documents, which they in turn used to write embarrassing exposés into alleged corruption and the mismanagement of tens of millions of euros of Vatican funds.

The case took a turn over the weekend when the Vatican formally announced that it was not only moving ahead with charges against the former insiders – Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, Francesca Chaouqui, an Italian PR executive and laywoman, and Nicola Maio, another Vatican employee – but that it had also indicted two journalists who published books based on the documents.

If convicted, Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi could face up to eight years in jail following the passing of a law by Pope Francis in 2013 that made it a felony to steal confidential documents.

Italy shares an extradition agreement with the Vatican and if the two are convicted the Vatican could technically request that Italy pursues the matter. However, most observers contend that it is unlikely that either would realistically be put in prison.

The decision by the Vatican to charge the men nevertheless is seen as having a chilling effect on other journalists and could create tensions between the Vatican and Italy.



In an interview with the Guardian on Monday evening, Nuzzi said he would appear before the Vatican judge on Tuesday for the hearing, which is expected to be technical, but accused the church of violating press rights. He said he had not had the opportunity to talk to any Italian government officials about the matter because, unlike the slow-moving Italian justice system, the Vatican indictments were announced just days ago.

“The court has prohibited my lawyer from getting a copy of the complaint, it is only possible to read about it,” Nuzzi added.

Fittipaldi appeared before Vatican officials before his indictment but refused to answer their questions, citing his right to protect anonymous sources under Italian law.

Pope Francis has always maintained a warm relationship with reporters, and is known for greeting journalists who travel with him on the papal plane. He has, in turn, generally benefited from positive coverage in the press compared to his predecessor, Pope Benedict. But the Vatican has been known to come down harshly on journalists who are seen to be breaking rules, going so far as to revoke the accreditation of one journalist who published the pope’s encyclical before it was officially released.

“I think it does risk making the Vatican look as if it doesn’t believe in freedom of press,” said Austen Ivereigh, who wrote a biography of Pope Francis called The Great Reformer. “It doesn’t seem to make much sense unless it is understood as a warning to Vatican journalists who may be tempted to use confidential documents in the future. It is an attempt to make lives uncomfortable.”

While some supporters of the Vatican equate the church’s actions to the aggressive approach adopted by the US against Edward Snowden, the whistleblower whose leaks of confidential documents led to a re-examination and overhaul of US surveillance programmes, the books by Fittipaldi and Nuzzi have not prompted any shakeup within the church.

Instead, the books are seen as shaming a Vatican bureaucracy – including cardinals and other high-ranking officials who live in lavish apartments – in a way that supports Pope Francis’s reform agenda.

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The controversy has drawn scrutiny outside the church, with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Monday calling for the Vatican – which is a member of the security and rights organisation – to withdraw the criminal charges against the pair.

“Journalists must be free to report on issues of public interests and to protect their confidential sources,” the OSCE’s representative on freedom of the media, Dunja Mijatovic, said.