An investigation opened in Italy into an alleged espionage network serving Russian military intelligence has incorporated an element that directly affects the Holy See. Among the conversations intercepted by investigators is one in which one of the former Italian agents arrested claims to have received, years earlier, the assignment to act “with the Vatican,” a reference whose meaning remains unclear.
The case came to light after the arrest in Rome of two former members of the Italian secret services, Gavino Raoul Piras and Vincenzo Di Pasquale, accused of having supplied classified information to the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service, for years. The investigation, jointly led by the ordinary Prosecutor’s Office and the Military Prosecutor’s Office of Rome, maintains that both men supplied reserved documentation related to Italian and NATO defense in exchange for cash payments.
A meeting recorded by investigators
According to documentation published by Corriere della Sera, one of the key conversations was recorded on October 9, 2025, during a meeting between Piras and the alleged Russian agent Mikhail Astakhov in the town of Bracciano.
During that meeting, the former Italian agent expressed his dissatisfaction with the remuneration received and recalled a previous mission that, he said, had been assigned to him in writing by his Russian interlocutors.
In the conversation, Piras stated that when “you, together with the general,” ordered him to proceed “with the Vatican,” he carried out that instruction, even making “a contribution to Pope Francis.”
A mission whose content remains unknown
The investigation does not allow determination of what exactly that reference to the Vatican meant or what the specific objective of the alleged mission was.
The judicial documents known so far do not clarify whether it involved gathering information on the diplomatic activity of the Holy See, establishing contacts in curial circles, monitoring certain individuals, or carrying out any other activity related to the Vatican.
Nor has it been specified to whom the “contribution” mentioned by the suspect would have gone or what its purpose would have been.
The hypotheses raised by the investigation
In the absence of details in the judicial documentation, the portal Silere non possum notes that the reference to working “with the Vatican” admits different interpretations, although it stresses that none of them can be considered proven with the information available.
Among the possible hypotheses, it mentions obtaining information on the diplomacy of the Holy See, the attempt to open channels of access to certain curial circles through donations and personal relationships, the surveillance of individuals considered of interest, or the collection of information on ecclesiastical officials and other interlocutors linked to the Vatican.
The same outlet highlights that, for the time being, there is no public information allowing determination of which of these possibilities, if any, actually corresponds to the activity carried out by the suspect.
Likewise, there is also no record that the Holy See had knowledge of these alleged actions or that there was any collaboration by Vatican bodies.
A method typical of classic espionage
The investigation describes a system of information exchange based on discreet meetings in various locations in Lazio, the use of micro SD cards hidden in caches, handwritten notes, and cash payments.
According to investigators, Piras would have delivered classified information for years on defense programs, weapons systems, military plans, and other reserved documents, as well as data relating to members of the Italian intelligence services.
During the searches carried out at the homes of the suspects, approximately 20,000 euros in cash were seized.
The investigation remains open
To date, the Italian authorities have not attributed any responsibility to the Vatican nor have they indicated that the Holy See had knowledge of the activities under investigation.
The reference to the Vatican appears only in a conversation intercepted between two of the suspects and forms part of the material that continues to be analyzed by the magistrates in charge of the case. The investigation remains open and, for now, no new elements have been made public that would allow the real scope of the alleged mission mentioned by the former Italian agent to be known.