The Vatican's 'Trial of the Century' Explained

Verdicts are expected Saturday for a cardinal and nine other defendants in the most complicated financial trial in the Vatican’s modern history: a case featuring a Hollywood-worthy cast of characters, unseemly revelations about the Holy See and questions about Pope Francis ’ own role in the deals. The trial had initially been seen as a showcase for Francis’ reforms and his willingness to crack down on alleged financial misdeeds in the Vatican, which long had a reputation as an offshore tax haven. But after 2 1/2 years of hearings, no real smoking gun emerged to support the prosecution’s hypothesis of a grand conspiracy to defraud the pope of millions of euros (dollars) in charitable donations.