Vatican detained person suspected of leaking confidential Documents.

25 May 2012 Last updated at 16:55 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

The Vatican has said it has detained a person it suspects of leaking a series of confidential documents and letters to the media.

The leaks have described alleged corruption, mismanagement, and internal conflicts among top Holy See officials.

The Vatican said the person was being questioned by Vatican magistrates. Reports citing unnamed sources said that he was the Pope's personal butler.

The "Vatileaks" scandal, as it is known, has enraged the Holy See.

Last month, Pope Benedict XVI set up a special commission of cardinals to investigate the leaks.

"The inquiry carried out by Vatican police... allowed them to identify someone in possession of confidential documents," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists.

"This person is currently being questioned."

'Poison pen' memos

Italian media have named the arrested man as Paolo Gabriele, a personal butler and assistant to the Pope and one of very few laymen to have access to the Pope's private apartments.

The news of the discovery comes just a day after the president of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was ousted by its board.

The official reason for his departure was his failure to fulfil the "primary functions of his office", the Vatican has said.

But, according to reports, he was also suspected of being involved in the leaking of the documents.

The Vatileaks scandal has filled Italian media - dominating the columns of Italian newspapers and filling TV programmes and magazines.

The BBC's David Willey, in Rome, says the leak of a string of highly sensitive internal documents from inside the Vatican's Secretariat of State, including personal letters to Pope Benedict XVI, has been an evident embarrassment to the Pope, prompting the rare investigation.

The leaked documents include a letter to Pope Benedict by the Vatican's current ambassador to Washington alleging cronyism, nepotism and corruption among the administrators of Vatican City.

Others concern "poison pen" memos criticising Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope's number two, and the reporting of suspicious payments by the Vatican Bank.

Our correspondent explains that if the person detained is a layman he would be put on trial in Italy, under Italian criminal law.

But if he is a churchman, he could be tried for breaching ecclesiastical law by a Vatican tribunal, though this would be extremely rare.

Paolo Gabriele, in the foreground, saw the Pope every day
6:51pm UK, Saturday May 26, 2012

The Pope's butler has been charged with illegal possession of secret documents, as an investigation is launched into Vatican leaks.
Paolo Gabriele, 46, lives inside the Vatican City and could often be seen at Pope Benedict XVI's side in public, riding in the front seat of his open-air jeep during Wednesday general audiences or shielding the pontiff from the rain.

The "Vatileaks" scandal has been an embarrassment for the Vatican at a time when it is trying to show the world's financial community that it has turned a page and shed its reputation as a tax haven.


Everyone in the Vatican knows him, there is a feeling of surprise and grief, as well as great sympathy for his family.

Vatican spokesman Reverend Federico Lombardi
Vatican documents leaked to the press in recent months have undermined that effort, alleging corruption in Vatican finance as well as internal bickering over the Holy See's efforts to show more transparency in its financial operations.

Vatican spokesman Reverend Federico Lombardi said in a statement that Gabriele was arrested on Wednesday with secret documents in his possession.

He added that Gabriele, who became the Pope's butler in 2006, was still in custody and had two lawyers representing him.

"Everyone in the Vatican knows him, there is a feeling of surprise and grief, as well as great sympathy for his family, who are well liked," Rev Lombardi told journalists.

Gabriele faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in jail if convicted.

The Vatileaks scandal took on even greater weight earlier this month with the publication of "His Holiness", a book which reproduced confidential letters and memos to and from Benedict and his personal secretary.

The Vatican called the book "criminal" and vowed to take legal action against the author, publisher, and whoever leaked the information.

The documents shed light on many Vatican secrets, including the Church's tax problems, the funding of Catholic bodies, sex scandals and negotiations with hard-line traditionalist rebels.

The leaks have also centred on the activities of Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and of the Vatican bank, whose head, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was sacked on Thursday.

I SAW AN ARTICLE IN GUARDIAN TODAY.
IT SAID THAT THE VATICAN SECRETARY OF STATE HAS MANY PEOPLE WHO DISAPROVE OF HIS WAY OF DOING THINGS.
I WONDER HOW BIG A SCANDAL THIS MIGHT BECOME.

It will be a big scandal because the Butler took secret Documents . The Vatican has it's own Stock exchange and a while ago the Italian Government
was considering taxing the Vatican on it's income. It might be something to do with that. The Butler either stole them to make money or to give to
the Government .

I DID WONDER IF CHURCH MIGHT HAVE A FALLING OUT,MANY CONVERTS MIGHT LEAVE,BUT NOT IF IT IS THAT SERIOUS.