Vatican Judge Orders Pope's Butler and Secretary of State to Stand Trial
A Vatican judge on Monday ordered the pope's butler and a fellow lay employee is being ordered by a Vatican judge to stand trial for the alleged pilfering of documents from Pope Benedict XVI's private apartment. This scandal has brought about embarrassment that exposed power struggles and purported corruption at the Holy See's highest levels.
The butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested at the Vatican in May on a grand theft charge that could have him face six years in jail. It has been stated the pope could pardon his former butler after any conviction.
Gabriele was also accused of taking a check for (EURO)100,000 (about $125,000) made out to Benedict and donated by a Spanish Catholic university from the papal quarters.
We have reported previously that the Vatican had insisted throughout the investigation that Gabriele was the only person under investigation, the indictment also orders trial for Claudio Sciarpelletti, a 48-year-old computer expert in the Secretariat of State office charged with aiding and abetting the butler.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters that a three-judge panel would try the two defendants together. No date was set for the trial, which will be open to reporters, but Lombardi said it would start at the very earliest in late September, after the court returns from summer break.
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