The Vatican and Freedom of the Press - a judge speaks

(Vatican Radio) The ongoing trial in the Vatican concerning the illicit publication of confidential documents has raised concerns about freedom of the press, as two journalists are among the accused.

Professor Cesare Mirabelli has served as a judge and later President of the Constitutional Court of Italy (one of Italy’s supreme courts), and is currently Counselor general of the Vatican City State. Professor Mirabelli told Vatican Radio’s Sergio Centofanti the so-called “Vatileaks” case does not compromise freedom of the press.

“Freedom of the press is guaranteed,” he said. The Vatican court, he continued, will be asked to determine whether the documents were acquired properly or whether a crime was committed in their acquisition, and if the journalists on trial were involved in the illegal, or even criminal, acquisition of those documents.

The trial, then, is not directly concerned with the publication of the documents or with the issue of possible defamation. Rather, it deals with the way confidential papers were obtained. “If this constitutes a crime,” Mirabelli said, “it is this crime that can be punished. This does not mean that there is a prohibition of a limitation on investigative journalism, which has a positive [aspect] because it brings to light problems that exist and informs public opinion in this regard.” However, he continued, investigative journalism doesn’t mean committing crimes in order to procure and publish information.

Professor Mirabelli said, “Freedom of the press certainly includes freedom to manifest one’s thought, the freedom to express judgments, to publish acts or documents; but there are limits when this concerns – for example – the security of the State or other elements that refer to confidential acts or documents.” Certain limitations to the freedom of the press do not mean the freedom to inform is being compromised.

The full text of Professor Cesare Mirabelli’s remarks, in Italian, can be found on Vatican Radio’s Italian page.