VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler is facing up to eight years in jail for allegedly stealing confidential documents from the pope’s own desk. But according to a Vatican judge, Paolo Gabriele won’t be serving any time in the world’s smallest state.
Paolo Papanti Pelletier, a law professor at Rome’s Tor Vergata University who also serves as one of the Vatican court’s judges, told journalists on Tuesday (June 5) that people who are sentenced to a jail term in the Vatican City State are routinely sent to an Italian prison because the Vatican doesn’t have its own jail system.
Paolo Gabriele, who served as Benedict’s “assistente di camera” until his arrest two weeks ago, appeared on Tuesday for a hearing with the Vatican investigating judge, Piero Antonio Bonnet, in the presence of his two lawyers and Nicola Picardi, the Vatican prosecutor.
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