Pope’s former butler on trial for stealing

Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, went on trial Saturday on charges of stealing the pope’s confidential papers and leaking them to the media, an unprecedented security breach that set off a public airing of back-room intrigue and allegations of corruption at an institution known for its secrecy.

Gabriele appeared tired but serene throughout the twohour hearing, which was held in a sparsely furnished, woodpaneled courtroom in a Vatican City palazzo behind the apse of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The morning was taken up with legal formalities, and the civil court - formed by a panel of three judges - upheld motions to strike some of the evidence gathered against Gabriele and to split off the trial of a co-defendant, a Vatican computer expert charged with aiding and abetting.

A spokesman for the Vatican, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the atmosphere in the courtroom was “serene.” Television cameras and recording equipment were not admitted, and a pool of eight reporters allowed inside briefed other journalists after the hearing.

Gabriele, who has admitted taking the documents, faces up to four years in prison if he is convicted of aggravated theft. He is scheduled to take the stand at a hearing Tuesday.

The trial of Gabriele, 46, caps a turbulent moment for the Roman Catholic Church, racked by a pedophilia scandal involving some of its clergymen, interfaith and intrafaith disputes, and challenges to preserve its moral authoritativeness within rapidly changing societies. Some of the leaked documents opened an especially unflattering vista onto some questionable administrative practices as well as inner wrangling at the Vatican.

The hunt for the source of the leaks led to Gabriele, a father of three who had worked in the Vatican for 20 years and was discovered to have stashed what prosecutors described as a “vast quantity” of confidential documents in his Vatican City apartment.

He passed some to an Italian journalist, Gianluigi Nuzzi, who published them in May in the aptly titled His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Pope Benedict XVI.

The butler was arrested May 25, and later released to house arrest. An investigation into the charges led to a formal indictment in August.

Court records show that Gabriele told the judge examining the case that he saw “eviland corruption everywhere in the church,” and believed that he had to expose it because the pope “was not correctly informed” about what was going on. The shock of public exposure, he told investigators, “could be a healthy thing to bring the church back on the right track.”

Psychiatric evaluations determined that Gabriele knew what he was doing but also that he was angry, frustrated and easily manipulated.

After his arrest, Gabriele wrote a letter to the pope asking for forgiveness, especially for the pain he caused, according to Carlo Fusco, one of his lawyers. Fusco later left the defense team because of differences over strategy. It is not known if the pope responded to the letter.

The pope appointed a commission of three cardinals toinvestigate separately, and they reported their findings - which remain confidential - to the pope this summer.

If convicted and sentenced to prison, Gabriele will serve the time in an Italian prison, because the Vatican does not have one. But it is widely believed that the pope will grant a pardon.

In addition to Gabriele’s testimony, the court will hear from eight witnesses, including six Vatican police officers and Monsignor Georg Ganswein, the pope’s personal secretary. Several of the officers were in the tiny courtroom Saturday. Though the hearing was open to the public, the limited space restricted the number of people who could attend.

The investigation into what the Italian news media has dubbed “Vatileaks” could also pursue other angles.

Front Section, Pages 9 on 09/30/2012

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