Vatican arrests 2 on suspicion of leaking documents

The dome of St. Peter in Vatican City
(Image credit: Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images)

Police arrested two people this weekend on charges of leaking confidential documents to journalists, the Vatican said Monday.

Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Francesca Chaouqui, a laywoman, were both part of a now-dissolved commission meant to review the Vatican's financial holdings. Balda is a high-ranking official in the Vatican's economic affairs prefecture. Chaouqui, a PR specialist, was released after saying she would cooperate with the investigation, The New York Times reports.

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"Publications of this kind do not contribute in any way to the establishment of clarity and truth, but rather to the creation of confusion and partial and tendentious interpretations," the Vatican said in the statement, referring both to Nuzzi's new book and another upcoming look at the Vatican's inner workings. "We must absolutely avoid the mistake of thinking that this is a way to help the mission of the pope."

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.