VATICAN CITY
Channel 4 News
The former butler of Pope Benedict XVI goes on trial today in relation to the leaking of sensitive Vatican documents to the media.
Paolo Gabriele (pictured bottom left) is charged with the aggravated theft of hundreds of documents which alleged corruption in the Vatican’s dealings with Italian companies, and detailed power struggles between cardinals.
Mr Gabriele, who was arrested in May and is currently under house arrest, explained his actions by saying there was “evil and corruption everywhere in the Church” and that “a shock, perhaps by using the media, could be a healthy thing to bring the Church back on the right track.”
Many of the stolen documents appeared in the book His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI’s secret papers by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi. Despite originally denying the theft, Gabriele later confessed to passing the documents to Mr Nuzzi.
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