Complying with a court order, Vatican prosecutors have handed over key taped testimony to the lawyers for defendants in a financial-misconduct trial.

The key testimony that defense lawyers had sought was the testimony of Msgr. Alberto Perlasca, a former official of the Secretariat of State, whose office Vatican investigators raided in February 2020. The prosecution’s case rests heavily on the testimony that Msgr. Perlasca gave after agreeing to cooperate with the investigation.

In July a Vatican tribunal had ordered prosecutors to produce the tapes. The court later denied an appeal to keep the tapes confidential, and set a deadline of November 3 for compliance. The prosecutors provided defense lawyers with the tapes late on the deadline date.