Following Italian lead, Pope creates civil liability for Vatican judges, prosecutors

ROME – In the latest demonstration that it’s often difficult to understand Vatican news without grasping its Italian context and background, Pope Francis issued a new decree this week which creates a system of civil liability for judges and prosecutors parallels one which has existed in Italy since 1988.

Among other things, the new system theoretically could be used by one or more of the nine defendants in the Vatican’s recent “trial of the century,” which pivoted on a controversial $400 million London real estate deal.