New trials for Vatican Radio and cardinal, court orders
May 16, 2008
Italy's highest criminal court has ordered a retrial for two former Vatican Radio officials after quashing their earlier acqittal on charges of environmental pollution allegedly caused by a transmission tower.
(cathnews.com, May 15, 2008) The Court of Cassation ordered a new appeals trial for Cardinal Roberto Tucci, formerly head of the radio's management committee, and Fr Pasquale Borgomeo, its former director general, the ANSA and Apcom news agencies said.
The two churchmen were acquitted last year after in an appeal of their 2005 conviction in a lower court, which sided with
consumer groups representing people living near the tower who claimed its electromagnetic emissions were a health hazard
and violated environmental limits, Associated Press said.
The lower court had sentenced the two each to 10 days in jail, but sentences were immediately suspended during their
appeals.
It was not known when the new appeals trial would take place, as the Court of Cassation must first publish its reasoning for the decision.
A Vatican-Italian government commission was set up as part of a 2001 agreement between both sides to monitor tower emissions. The Vatican has said that measurements show it has respected limits since signing the agreement.
Cardinal Gantin dead In another story, the Vatican has announced the death in Paris of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, once the most powerful African prelate in the Vatican, the Times Online reports.
Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, the son of a railway worker from Benin became at one stage the most powerful African in the Roman Curia, yet campaigned vehmently and consistently against "career hungry
bishops".
New trials for Vatican Radio and cardinal, court orders