In the name of the Father ...

The Vatican’s best kept secrets have been divulged in a spate of leaks, the latest culminating in the trial of his butler Paolo Gabriele. Peter Popham examines the background to the personalities and controversies

POPE Benedict XVI wakes every morning between 6.30am and 6.45am in the papal apartment on the third floor of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, which overlooks St. Peter’s Square.

After bathing and shaving, he makes his way to his private chapel, where at 7.30am he celebrates the first Mass of the day. After a time of private prayer in the chapel, at around 8.30am he joins Msgr. Georg Gänswein, his personal secretary, and a small circle of his closest collaborators for breakfast.