Nicola Picardi said this in his address to open Vatican City State’s judicial year, a ceremony that was presided over by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, reported Vatican Radio.
According to the attorney, the absence of crimes between April 2, 2005, the day Pope John Paul II died, and April 24, the day of the solemn opening of Benedict XVI’s pontificate, is an altogether «exceptional» event, especially given the millions of people who passed through the Vatican.
The attorney reported that last year 486 civil causes were opened in the Vatican, and 472 criminal proceedings. Most of the cases are robberies suffered primarily by tourists visiting the Vatican.