VATICAN CITY
Herald Sun (Australia)
Dario Thuburn
From: AAP
October 07, 20122:00PM
STARTING with the victim – Pope Benedict XVI – there was nothing normal about the trial of Paolo Gabriele, the Vatican butler convicted of stealing secret papers from the papal palace.
The defendant said he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to rid the Vatican of “evil and corruption” and the main judge was from an aristocratic family that has served the papacy for generations who has been knighted by the Vatican.
Gabriele on Saturday was found guilty of aggravated theft and sentenced to 18 months in prison, although Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said a pardon from the Pope was “very likely” to come soon, before the sentence was actually implemented.
Adding to the unique nature of a trial in the world’s smallest state where the Pope has supreme powers, the sentence began: “In the name of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who reigns in glory, and invoking the Holy Trinity.”
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