Pope grants freedom to jailed prelate in leaks scandal
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Tuesday freed a Vatican monsignor convicted of leaking confidential documents to journalists, granting him a Christmas-time clemency and ending an embarrassing episode for the Holy See.
Francis granted “conditional freedom” to Spanish Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda after he served half of his 18-month sentence, the Vatican said late Tuesday. Fired from his job as a high-ranking Vatican financial official, Vallejo now falls under the authority of his local bishop in Astorga, Spain.
In July, a Vatican court convicted Vallejo of conspiring to pass documents onto two journalists, although it cleared him and a co-defendant of forming a criminal organization to do so.
The case had been criticized by media rights groups because the two journalists were also put on trial, though the court ultimately declared it had no jurisdiction to prosecute them.