VATICAN CITY
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)
The Pope’s butler has written a letter to Benedict XVI asking to be pardoned for stealing and leaking confidential papers, in a move which may enable him to avoid a trial that could prove embarrassing to the Vatican.
By Nick Squires, Rome
12:28PM BST 24 Jul 2012
Paolo Gabriele, 46, who was formerly a trusted member of the pontiff’s inner circle, sent the confidential letter to express his regret over the theft.
The letter was sent to the Pope via a commission of three cardinals who are investigating the leaks and hunting for other moles within the Holy See.
The letter expresses Mr Gabriele’s “sorrow and contrition” over the stealing of the confidential documents from Benedict’s private apartments, said Carlo Fusco, the butler’s lawyer.
In the letter, the valet reportedly insists that no one else was involved in the theft, denying widespread rumours in Rome that he was an unwitting scapegoat for a much wider plot amid jockeying for power at the highest levels of the Holy See.
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