The Vatican City State criminal court sentenced Cardinal Angelo Becciu to five years and six months in prison on two counts of embezzlement and one of aggravated fraud but found him not guilty of abuse of office or witness tampering.

After learning that Cardinal Angelo Becciu and a relative of his secretly recorded a phone call with Pope Francis, the Vatican's chief prosecutor said his office is considering a new charge -- one of criminal conspiracy -- against the cardinal, who has been on trial since July 2021 for financial malfeasance.

Taking the stand at a Vatican trial, London-based Italian financier Raffaele Mincione said the Vatican Secretariat of State's decision to back out of its investment in a London property is to blame for its financial losses.

Questioned for 15 hours over two days in a Vatican courtroom, 73-year-old Cardinal Angelo Becciu insisted the "good of the Holy See" was the only motivation for every transaction or financial decision he was involved in when he worked in the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Taking the stand for a second time at his Vatican trial, Cardinal Angelo Becciu spent more than two hours reading a statement in which he claimed accusations of financial impropriety were an attempt to stain his reputation.

VATICAN CITY -- Lawyers representing six defendants, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, on charges of financial crimes accused Vatican prosecutors of omitting evidence and testimony they said are crucial in preparing their defense.

VATICAN CITY – A Vatican court, citing freedom of the press, acquitted two journalists who published confidential documents while their source, a Spanish monsignor, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars.

VATICAN CITY – As the Vatican trial of five people accused of complicity in leaking private documents moved toward a conclusion, Vatican prosecutors requested that four of the five defendants be convicted and that three of them serve jail time.

VATICAN CITY – A former consultant to a pontifical commission vehemently denied giving private documents regarding the Vatican's financial reform to two journalists.