This story is free to read.

Trial opens for ex-Vatican hospital execs for diverted funds

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 file photo, Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi talk to reporters outside the Vatican City from the Perugino gate. Other than St. Peter's Basilica, there's hardly better real estate in this tiny city state than the sprawling penthouse apartment in the Vatican gardens, where the rooftop terrace has in-your-face views of the dome itself and overlooks the Vatican hotel that Pope Francis calls home. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File) FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 file photo, Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi talk to reporters outside the Vatican City from the Perugino gate. Other than St. Peter's Basilica, there's hardly better real estate in this tiny city state than the sprawling penthouse apartment in the Vatican gardens, where the rooftop terrace has in-your-face views of the dome itself and overlooks the Vatican hotel that Pope Francis calls home. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

By Associated Press July 18, 2017 1 min read

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Two former executives of the Vatican’s pediatric hospital are going on trial on charges they diverted 422,000 euros ($485,000) in hospital donations to renovate the retirement home of the Catholic Church’s retired second-in-command.

Former hospital president Giuseppe Profiti and ex-treasurer Massimo Spina face between three to five years in prison and fines starting at 5,000 euros if found guilty of embezzlement. The penalty can be reduced if the amount diverted is repaid before the trial starts.

Profiti has said the funds he used from the Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) foundation to renovate the 300-square meter (3,230-square-foot) apartment of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was an investment, since he intended to use it for future fundraising events for the hospital.