Gerald Posner: The Vatican should stop stifling freedom of the press

Two Italian authors of recent books about Vatican financial corruption and mismanagement were put on trial inside the Vatican on Tuesday.

Pope Francis has ignored calls from press associations and human rights watchdog groups who charge the church's prosecution violates freedom of the press.

The Vatican relies on an antiquated 19th-century legal code no longer used in Italy.

No jury trials are permitted in the Vatican.

Maybe, just maybe, instead of trying to muzzle freedom of the press, the Vatican and Pope Francis would be much better served by focusing their energy on cracking down on some of the outrageous financial abuses set forth in the two new books.

No wonder I still cannot get an answer from the Vatican or the Pope about releasing the church's World War II files for the scandal ridden Vatican Bank.  The underlying DNA of the church, even Francis's church, is to obfuscate, and at certain times, to try and intimate reporters.  Shame.

With #GodsBankers