A former president of the Vatican bank has been ordered to stand trial on charges of embezzlement and money laundering, the Vatican has said, making him the highest-ranking Holy See financial official to be indicted on charges tying him to losses of more than $61 million from real estate sales.

A statement by the bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion, said Angelo Caloia, 78, who was president of the I.O.R. from 1999 to 2009, was indicted on Friday, along with his lawyer Gabriele Liuzzo, 94.

A third person who was under investigation, the former I.O.R. director general Lelio Scaletti, died several years ago.

Mr. Caloia and Mr. Liuzzo have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and were not immediately available for comment.