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The pope's former butler Paolo Gabriele, at left holding umbrella. Luca Bruno/AP/Press Association Images

Pope's ex-butler to take the stand in leaks trial today

Paolo Gabriele, 46, faces up to four years in prison if he is convicted of aggravated theft in the worst security breach in the Vatican’s recent history.

POPE BENEDICT XVI has returned to the Vatican after three months of vacation to find his former butler on trial in one of the most damaging scandals of his pontificate: the leaks of stolen papal correspondence detailing power struggles, defamation campaigns and allegations of corruption at the highest level of the Catholic Church.

Paolo Gabriele is to be questioned on the stand Tuesday by the president of the Vatican tribunal, the first time the public will hear from the butler himself about the events that landed him in a Vatican detention facility on May 23, accused of stealing the documents and giving them to a journalist.

Stash of papal papers

Vatican police arrested Gabriele after they found a stash of papal papers in his Vatican City home. In all, police carted off 82 boxes of papers, though not all of them were papal correspondence.

Prosecutors have said Gabriele confessed to leaking copies of the documents because he wanted to expose the “evil and corruption” in the church. They quoted him as saying that even though he knew taking the documents was wrong, he felt inspired by the Holy Spirit “to bring the church back on the right track.”

“I believed that the Holy Father wasn’t being correctly informed about certain things,” they quoted him as saying. “In this sense, I was compelled also by my profound faith and desire that there should be light shed on everything in the church.”

The trial opened over the weekend inside the intimate ground-floor tribunal in the Vatican’s courthouse tucked behind St. Peter’s Basilica. Judge Giuseppe Della Torre has said he expects it to be over in about four more hearings. Gabriele faces four years in prison if convicted on a charge of aggravated theft.

Benedict has full judicial authority

The 46-year-old father of three seemed calm but tense in that first hearing, staring ahead impassively as his lawyer raised a handful of objections and requests. On the opposite wall from where he sat was a photo of Benedict, his boss and the victim of the crime, but also the supreme judge in the case: as an absolute monarch, Benedict has full judicial authority in the Vatican city state and can intervene to stop a trial. He delegates that power to the three-judge tribunal, but he can pardon Gabriele and most expect he will if there’s a conviction.

In its first hearing, the court released the list of witnesses who will testify in the case, though it’s not clear who among them might take the stand after Gabriele on Tuesday.

They include the pope’s private secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, and one of the four consecrated women who care for the papal household, Cristina Cernetti. Their testimony could shed light on the otherwise deeply private world of the small “papal family” who live, eat and pray together with the 85-year-old pope every day.

Gaenswein, Cernetti and the rest of the papal entourage returned to Rome on Monday after spending the summer in the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo south of Rome.

Gabriele has said he handed the documentation off to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, whose book “His Holiness: The secret papers of Pope Benedict XVI,” was published to great fanfare in May. An earlier Nuzzi book,” Vatican SpA,” was based on a trove of damaging documents from the Vatican bank.

The Holy See and Italian politics

“His Holiness” contained dozens of reprinted letters and memos: some showed how wealthy donors scored audiences with the pope after handing over checks for €10,000; others detailed the questionable interconnectedness of Italian and Holy See politics, particularly concerning the tax-exempt status for church-owned real estate.

The most damaging letter reproduced in the book was written by the former No. 2 Vatican administrator to the pope, in which he begged not to be transferred as punishment for exposing alleged corruption. The prelate, Monsignor Carlo Maria Vigano, is now the Vatican’s US ambassador.

On the eve of Gabriele’s testimony, Nuzzi — who revealed his source after Gabriele confessed — said he hoped the one-time butler would make clear why he betrayed the pope and risked so much to air the Vatican’s dirty laundry.

“He did it because he saw through his own eyes that there were plots, stories and accusations of corruption, made by important monsignors, unclear relationships between states,” Nuzzi told Italian television TG5 on Monday. “He thought that by making these dramatic stories known he would help bring about the transparency promised by the Holy Father.”

Read: Vatileaks: Pope’s butler to stand trial – but may be pardoned>

Read: Vatican hires Fox News journalist to improve communications strategy>

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8 Comments
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    Mute Aishling Keogh
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 6:26 PM

    RIP,another family’s heartbreak this evening :(

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    Mute Martina Ní Wynner
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 6:06 PM

    RIP

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    Mute Keith Moore
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 6:03 PM

    I hope it’s not James it would be such a waste of a young life.

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    Mute Cian O Donnell
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 7:47 PM

    seriously,how many other bodies are floating around in that river at any one time?

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    Mute Gavin Tracy
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 10:41 PM

    It would be someone else’s waste if life then….

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    Mute Susan Duffy
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 10:49 PM

    I hate to have say this why are people red thumbing that comment?

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    Mute louise
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 6:15 PM

    So sad news, I know body isn’t identified yet, thoughts with family at such a sad time, too young to die

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    Mute Richard Mason
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 7:52 PM

    What are the thumbs down about? I can’t see any contentious statements above!

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    Mute Bernadette Dunne
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 8:51 PM

    Richard just ignore the red thumbs on this story We all try too it is such a sad story for the Family who have to deal with this R.I.P and thought for the family

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    Mute Mark Vieregge
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 7:20 PM

    Oh no… :-/

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    Mute James O Mara
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 9:28 PM

    I hope it not James for hisfamly

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    Mute Laura Hannon
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 7:59 PM

    Thumbs down because any loss of life is sad whatever the age.

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    Mute Richard Mason
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 8:10 PM

    I agree Laura but I thought the idea of the thumbs was to make a statement about the comment. Apologies if I have misunderstood.

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    Mute Cian O Donnell
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 8:42 PM

    you havent mis understood at all,the thumbs system is indeed to indicate ones aggreement/disaggreement with a comment..people will thumbs down anything said on this site,no matter what it is

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    Mute Norma Kealy
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 11:43 PM

    well done to the boyne river rescue….a grim task indeed. my condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

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    Mute kelly whelan
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 9:49 PM

    at least who ever it is has been.found. not in the way any family Will ever hope for but it Will be at least some peace for them. what a heartbreaking time for all concerned. rip.

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    Mute Aisling Doyle
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 9:09 PM

    Dont worry I seen the red thumb record here 1097 so I wouldnt take it personal sometimes with the iPhone or smart (not so Smart) when scrolling down page sometimes ppl hit off it by error I know I for one have .

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    Mute Eileen Gabbett
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 9:51 PM

    R I P . Condolences to the family of the deceased .

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    Mute Tomas Phelan
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 11:43 PM

    RIP to this poor soul, it’s someone’s son, brother etc. May his family gain the strength they will need to get them through the next week. how gives a flying f%@k about red thumbers. They are irrelevant. Trolls will be trolls.

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    Mute kelly whelan
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 9:49 PM

    at least who ever it is has been.found. not in the way any family Will ever hope for but it Will be at least some peace for them. what a heartbreaking time for all concerned. rip.

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    Mute Kay Tighe
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    Aug 24th 2012, 1:27 AM

    Very sad that someone’s son has be taken out of the river

    As for the red thumbs why won’t the journal get rid of this red / green
    Thumbs crap

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    Mute Gavin Tracy
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    Aug 24th 2012, 7:49 AM

    People are saying ” I hope it’s not James” . It’s somebody, and someone’s son!! Whoever it is are facing devastation.. I hope it’s not James just pushes the reality to some other poor family

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    Mute Mick Lennon
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    Aug 24th 2012, 8:56 AM

    am I right that the body found was that poor boy James,tragic,his life taken so young,only making his way in the world god be good to him

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    Mute Don McGuinness
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    Aug 23rd 2012, 11:47 PM

    Why was my comment deleted?

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    Mute Martin St John
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    Nov 26th 2012, 3:29 AM

    Because the journal is like that … Very picky in my opinion and just a tad conservative … It likes to think it’s an important broadsheet , but it’s not really that far removed from most Red-Tops!! Shrude and moronic!!

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