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Saturday, September 29, 2012

Corruption whistleblower on trial instead of Vatican officials



File photo shows Pope Benedict XVI (R) waving as he stands in his popemobile with his butler Paolo Gabriele (C) upon arrival for a weekly general audience at Saint Peter
File photo shows Pope Benedict XVI (R) waving as he stands in his popemobile with his butler Paolo Gabriele (C) upon arrival for a weekly general audience at Saint Peter's Square in The Vatican.Pope Benedict XVI's former butler Paolo Gabriele (R) sitting in a courtroom for the start of a closely-watched case that could see him receive up to four years in prison for aggravated theft, September 29, 2012.

File photo shows Pope Benedict XVI (R) waving as he stands in his popemobile with his butler Paolo Gabriele (C) upon arrival for a weekly general audience at Saint Peter's Square in The Vatican.


Sat Sep 29, 2012 2:42PM GMT

Instead of trying high-ranking officials of the Catholic Church for financial and moral corruption, a Vatican court has put the Pope’s former butler on trial for disclosing information on corruption.


Pope Benedict XVI's former butler Paolo Gabriele went on trial on Saturday in the Vatican for exposing financial and moral corruption within top brass of the Vatican. 

The trial reportedly began at a 19th-century courtroom in a corner of the city state where only eight reporters were allowed inside the courtroom and TV cameras were also banned. If found guilty, he risks up to four years in prison. 

The 46-year-old, who was arrested in May on suspicion of stealing secret documents from the pope's office, has confessed to taking confidential documents and memos and leaking them to Italian press. The ex-butler has however entered a non-guilty plea. 

He told investigators that he was hoping to save the Church by exposing “evil and corruption” within it.

Gabriele says he acted alone, but many believe he worked as part of a wider group of disgruntled Vatican employees. 

Many of the letters and other confidential documents that he allegedly took from the pontiff's desk were published in a book by an Italian journalist in May, which prove that the highest levels of Vatican officials are deeply involved in financial corruption and infighting over the power. 

MR/MAM/JR/SS

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