VATICAN CITY
AFP
By Dario Thuburn (AFP)
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI’s butler was released from a Vatican cell and placed under house arrest on Saturday as he awaits a ruling on whether he should stand trial for leaking confidential papers.
“His detention is no longer necessary,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told reporters, adding that the ruling would come by early August at the latest.
Paolo Gabriele “will reside at home with his family in the Vatican”, he said.
Gabriele’s lawyer meanwhile said his client believed his was “an act of love” for the pope and a bid to make the Catholic Church “more alive”. He stressed that Gabriele had acted alone and not as a part of any Vatican “plot”.
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