Pope’s Butler Stands Trial for Vatileaks
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Franco Origlia/Getty Images(VATICAN CITY) — The Vatileaks scandal continues as Pope Benedict’s personal butler stood trial Saturday for releasing sensitive church documents to the public.
Similar to Wikileaks, Vatileaks contains reams and reams of papers. But according to Italian journalist Marco Politi, the documents leaked by Paolo Gabriele, “always focused on matters of money and power.”
Because the butler has already confessed, Politi thinks the prosecution’s main goal will be to identify those who helped Gabriele release the documents. “Around [Gabriele] there is a group of dissidents,” he says, “Who are uneasy about the way the government of the Holy See is working and especially about the leadership of Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone.”
The 77-year-old Bertone is Pope Benedict’s long-time deputy and trusted confidant.
According to the Telegraph, Gabriele is also accused of stealing a collection of gifts intended for the Pope, such as gold, artifacts and a check made out to Benedict for 100,000 Euros. If convicted, Gabriele faces up to four years in prison. He will appear in court again on Tuesday.
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