Former PR expert Francesca
Chaouqui, who was found guilty in the "Vatileaks 2" trial over
leaked Vatican financial documents and got a suspended term of
10 months, has written a book about her experience that hits
bookstores on Tuesday.In the book, titled "Nel nome di Pietro" (In The Name of Peter), Chaouqui tells of her time as a member on the now-defunct COSEA commission set up to advise Pope Francis on the reform of the Holy See's economic and administrative structure, and of her work alongside Mons. Vallejo Balda, who was also found guilty in the trial and sentenced to 18 months in jail.
During the trial, Balda admitted leaking confidential documents to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, who wrote a book called "Merchants in the Temple" (Via Crucis in the Italian version).
The prelate also spoke of "exchanging" documents with journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi, who wrote a book called "Avarice". Both books detailed waste, mismanagement and excessive expenses racked up by Vatican officials.
In Chaouqui's book, she includes a series of documents from her work with the COSEA commission, and also tells of a letter she wrote to Pope Francis asking permission to be relieved from her responsibility of keeping Vatican state secrets to be able to tell "everything" at trial - a letter to which the pope didn't respond.
"A friend of the secretary of state brought me a message: Pope Francis wants all of this to end as soon as possible," she writes in the book.
"It isn't possible to absolve me from keeping state secrets, but he doesn't want a conviction," she wrote.
Chaouqui's 288-page book, whose title also recalls the name of her son who was born during the trial, is published in Italy by Sperling & Kupfer.