The swift conviction of Pope Benedict’s former butler leaves lingering suspicions that he was a pawn in a much larger Vatican intrigue involving infighting in the papal court and alleged corruption at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Pope’s butler was convicted today of stealing the pontiff’s private documents and leaking them to a journalist, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

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

Vatican police found thousands of documents hidden inside the home of the pope’s butler, including original documents signed by the pontiff with indications they should be destroyed.

Pope Benedict XVI’s onetime butler declared he was innocent of a charge of aggravated theft of the pope’s private letters, but acknowledged that he photocopied the papers and said he feels guilty that he betrayed the trust of the pontiff he loved like a father.

The pope’s butler has said he is innocent of stealing private correspondence but guilty of betraying the trust of the pontiff, whom he said he loved like a son would his father.

The pope’s butler has said he is innocent of stealing private correspondence but guilty of betraying the trust of the pontiff, whom he said he loved like a son would his father.

Pope Benedict XVI has returned to the Vatican after three months on holiday 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.

A Vatican scandal will get an unusually public airing next week when the butler who served the Pope’s meals and helped him dress goes on trial for leaking Benedict’s private papers in the hope of cleaning up what he saw as “evil and corruption everywhere in the Church”.

The Pope's former butler will go on trial next week over the embarrassing theft of papal documents that exposed alleged corruption at the Holy See's highest levels.

The Pope’s butler and a fellow lay employee are to stand trial over documents stolen from the pontiff’s private apartment.

The Pope’s butler and a fellow lay employee are to stand trial over documents stolen from the pontiff’s private apartment.

Paolo Gabriele, the papal butler held on suspicion of leaking documents alleging corruption in the Vatican, was driven by his love for Pope Benedict XVI and a desire to help clean up the Catholic Church, his lawyer said.

The Vatican has blamed the media for fuelling the scandal over leaked documents and insisted there were no power struggles or problems of unity in the Holy See's governance.

The Pope's butler was formally questioned today in the investigation into the leaks of the pontiff's papers, a scandal that represents one of the gravest security breaches in recent Vatican history.

JUST after dawn on Wednesday, May 23, Paolo Gabriele said goodbye to his wife, passed by the bedrooms of his three children, and left to start another day in the service of the man Roman Catholics believe is the vicar of Christ on Earth.

The Vatican has been hit by further controversy with an Italian newspaper publishing documents claiming that Pope Benedict’s butler was not the only person in possession of confidential correspondence.

Pope Benedict XVI has broken his silence over the leaked documents scandal that has convulsed the Vatican, saying he was saddened by the betrayal but grateful to those aides who work faithfully and in silence to help him do his job.

The Pope’s butler has been arrested in its embarrassing leaks scandal, adding a Hollywood twist to an already remarkable tale of power struggles, intrigue and corruption in the highest levels of Catholic Church governance.

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