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Pope Benedict XVI addresses the plenary assembly of the Italian Bishops' Conference yesterday. AP Photo/Andrew Medichini/PA

Pope's butler arrested over Vatican leaks - report

Vatican says man arrested today was caught in possession of secret documents.

VATICAN POLICE today arrested a man – reportedly the pope’s butler – on allegations of having leaked confidential documents and letters from the pontiff’s private study to newspapers.

The man was caught in possession of secret documents, the Vatican said, but it would not confirm the suspect’s identity, age, or when he had been arrested.

But informed sources said the man was Paolo Gabriele, 46, who had been working as a butler in the papal apartments since 2006. One source said the pope was “saddened and shocked” by this “painful case.”

“The inquiry carried out by Vatican police… allowed them to identify someone in possession of confidential documents. This person is currently being questioned,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists.

Il Foglio newspaper and ANSA news agency named the detained man as Gabriele, a member of the small team which works daily in Pope Benedict XVI’s apartments.

The Italian daily said he is likely to be used by the Vatican as “a handy scapegoat” for several others suspected of being involved in leaking documents, some of which ended up in a new book on the tiny state published a week ago.

Documents

Gianluigi Nuzzi’s “His Holiness” reproduces dozens of top secret and private letters and faxes which were smuggled out by whistle-blowers tired of the corruption and unhealthy bitterness in the Vatican.

The number of people who have access to the pope’s private study is very limited, and includes his butler, four nuns and Benedict’s two secretaries, Georg Gaenswein and Alfred Xuereb.

Last month, the pope set up a special commission of cardinals to probe the leaks, which began in January and have seen private documents splashed in the Italian media – to the embarrassment and rage of the Holy See.

Among papers leaked to Italy’s press are some that have dealt with allegations of corruption within the Vatican.

They have mainly centred on the activities of the Vatican bank and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The arrest came a day after the head of the Vatican Bank was ousted for failing to clean up the image of an institution that has come to symbolise the opacity and scandal gripping the Holy See’s administration.

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi was thrown out by the bank’s board for failing to do his job — but had also recently been suspected of being one of those behind the leaks.

Gotti Tedeschi, an expert on financial ethics, was put in charge of the bank — also known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) — in 2009, in an effort on the part of the Vatican to rid the institution of scandal.

Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s experts on anti-money laundering, is due to rule at the beginning of July on the whether the Holy See has managed to clean up its act and meet international monetary standards.

But the former head of Spanish bank Santander’s Italian operations tasked with bringing transparency to the bank came under suspicion in 2010 when he was investigated as part of an inquiry by magistrates into money-laundering.

Gotti Tedeschi, 67, was accused of violating laws set up in 2007 that tightened rules on disclosure of financial operations to the Italian central bank in a bid to stamp out money laundering.

- (c) AFP, 2012

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    Mute Jacky Grainger
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    May 25th 2012, 10:14 PM

    Him they arrest immediately- the many paedophiles who abused children and those that covered it up/turned a blind eye?… Priorities eh…

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    Mute Kathleen Welch Yee
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    May 25th 2012, 10:35 PM

    I share your thoughts exactly, except maybe also thinking about some Medieval forms of punishment for priests who violate their vows by abusing their ‘flock’

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    Mute Stephen Downey
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    May 25th 2012, 10:16 PM

    He just needs to confess in the confessional box, say three Hail Mary’s and a couple of Our Fathers, and that should be the end of it.

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    Mute Philip Farrelly
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    May 25th 2012, 10:22 PM

    Maybe they should consider arresting some of the Child Molesters also..

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    Mute AlMar
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    May 26th 2012, 12:25 AM

    They do.

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    Mute Jeroen Bos
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    May 26th 2012, 9:08 AM

    What Almar? Consider it or actualyy arresting them?

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    Mute Popcorn
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    May 25th 2012, 10:07 PM

    Cludo Vatican style. twas da Butler dat didit.

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    Mute Calvin Galvin
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    May 25th 2012, 10:54 PM

    ‘secret documents’ … What was written on them. “Gods not real”

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    Mute Bridget O'Hanlon
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    May 25th 2012, 11:11 PM

    Our children can sleep safe at night knowing that whatever else goes wrong in the world, at least the Pope has a butler

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    Mute mattoid
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    May 26th 2012, 12:05 AM

    And four nuns to visit him in his private study….
    ;-)

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    Mute Dhakina's Sword
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    May 25th 2012, 10:57 PM

    Our thralldom is beginning to end. The death spiral of the cult continues apace No longer does it need our help, to show it for what it really is. It is perfectly capable of destroying itself, and seems intent on doing so. Who am I to stop it.

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    Mute Seán Ó Loingsigh
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    May 26th 2012, 12:28 AM

    http://www.change.org/petitions/the-irish-government-tax-the-catholic-church-in-ireland

    Please sign and share this petition I created which calls on the government to tax the church!

    32
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    Mute Carlin Ite
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    May 26th 2012, 8:35 AM

    A butler! How Jesus like of him. Also the silk robes, gold jewelry, huge palace, chauffeur, private police force. There is no hypocrisy in Christianity !

    29
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    Mute James Bowen
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    May 26th 2012, 12:05 AM

    I can guess the role of the butler and 2 secretary’s but what of the 4 nuns?

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    Mute Biggins31
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    May 26th 2012, 7:29 AM

    If he was arrested, where will his trail be and eventual imprisonment if found guilty?
    Seriously! Think about it.
    The Vatican has no police force except for the Corps of Gendarmerie and also their fancy dressed Vatican guards!
    So if the Corps of Gendarmerie arrested him, where is he going to be tried and if found guilty, sent to prison?
    The Vatican state has no prisons! So they might have asked another state (Italy)?

    O’ wait, they must be going to then hand him over to that other state. Strange that when they previous have no regard for the law or the Italian police when it don’t suit them.
    You know, like handing over a number of abusers they have shielded away within the Vatican or at one stage Arch-bishop Marcinkus of banking scandal and Roberto Calvi (murder) fame – and the many more they have hidden away within its Vatican walls in two fingered indifference to the laws of states beyond it!

    The sooner the two faced rats within the Vatican become extinct, the better!

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    Mute AlMar
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    May 26th 2012, 8:47 AM

    Absolute rubbish on every level.

    For your information, the Italian police provide security services within the Vatican. Oh, and that thing about the Vatican not having a prison? Wrong again. It has a small prison with two cells which is used to temporarily hold those found committing crimes in Vatican territory.

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    Mute Caroline Molloy
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    May 26th 2012, 8:58 AM

    Why do they need 2 jail cells? They are Christians, shouldn’t they just forgive people and send them on their way?

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    Mute Caroline Molloy
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    May 26th 2012, 9:29 AM

    Also if the following is true
    “John 8:31-32 … So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
    Why is the butler in trouble for exposing the truth?

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    Mute ponythegringo
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    May 26th 2012, 1:25 PM

    ah aimar…still standing up for them i see … tirelessly defending a paedophile ring hiding behind a business hiding behind a bullshit fairytale….oh and thanks for informing us all about the vatican police and their little 2 seater prison…..what would we do without you….

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    Mute Unitedpeople Ireland
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    May 26th 2012, 5:11 PM

    For your information, the Italian police provide security services within the Vatican. Oh, and that thing about the Vatican not having a prison? Wrong again. It has a small prison with two cells which is used to temporarily hold those found committing crimes in Vatican territory.

    /quote.

    Two cells? WOW!!!

    In that case why wasn’t many of their own brethren that are perverts, financial fraudsters and escape artists from other countries, in those two cells?
    You know the one that can only hold them “temporarily” even as you say!

    The bit about Italy’s police brings home my point – they are happy to use another states police force when it suits them but ignore their wishes inn other cases when the Italian police want to arrest a priest or even just question them!

    Wrong on every level?
    Your talking out your arse. Wake up!

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    Mute Unitedpeople Ireland
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    May 26th 2012, 5:13 PM

    …O’ and by the way AlMar
    Go learn the difference between a jail cell and a prison – then come back with more crap!

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    Mute AlMar
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    May 26th 2012, 7:16 PM

    Unitedpeople Ireland – please inform us which clerics have, in recent times, been sheltered from the Italian police as you allege. Names, dates and allegations against them please. I want to be informed on this issue.

    Oh, and by way, just so we treat the Vatican like other states, legitimate rows about diplomatic immunity or about extradition don’t count, because those issues arise in pretty much every country.

    What I want to know is – how specifically has the Vatican sheltered criminals. I genuinely wish to be informed on this. I will acknowledge corruption or wrong doing if I see it. But I need to see the evidence, not just the pathetic throw away comments and ad hominem attacks that too often pass for debate on this site.

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    Mute Caroline Molloy
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    May 26th 2012, 9:00 PM

    “After the latest allegations – that Benedict took no action in the US when he was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s enforcer – the church is now “terrified” as more victims stand up to be counted in Italy, according to Roberto Mirabile, head of La Caramella Buona, an Italian anti-abuse group. “With the scandals erupting abroad, we will see a huge growth in victims’ groups in Italy in coming weeks,” said Mirabile yesterday.”
    http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/28/pope-paedophile-priests-italy?cat=world&type=article

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    Mute AlMar
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    May 26th 2012, 10:45 PM

    Hi Caroline. I’m not sure what your actual point is with the above quote?

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    Mute Caroline Molloy
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    May 27th 2012, 7:17 AM

    Are you not?
    Oh well, that’s a pity.

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    Mute Unitedpeople Ireland
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    May 27th 2012, 1:25 PM

    Dear AlMar, go do your own research.

    If you can’t tell the difference between a jail cell and a prison, I doubt you will understand anything else we post to be honest.
    Go to Google and look up “vatican sheltering criminal” – and thats just to begin with! Read and learn…
    Then get your head out of the clouds and kop yourself on!
    Lord, this planet has its fair share of idiots!

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    Mute AlMar
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    May 28th 2012, 12:09 AM

    Caroline – I am quite serious. I cannot see the significance of the newspaper quote (more than 2 years old) that you have reproduced here.

    Unitedpeople Ireland – no need for the insults. You display the typical behaviour of many who comment on this site – lash out at people rather than actually engage with an argument. I have googled “vatican sheltering criminal”. In the first two pages I have found nothing of any significance. Any further suggestions for us? Any specifics to back up your argument?

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    Mute Dhakina's Sword
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    May 28th 2012, 1:18 AM

    @ Almar. Being late to this debate, I can only assume that you have not heard of Cardinal Brady swearing sexual abuse victims to secrecy. The Vatican knew about this and did nothing to expose this truth, leaving the victims and other potential victims,further exposed. This was a Vatican cover up at the highest level. This inaction by Brady, and worse by the Vatican, led to countless more children being abused, than ever would have been possible, if the Vatican had the morals they claimed they had believed in.

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    Mute AlMar
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    May 28th 2012, 1:26 PM

    How do you know that the Vatican knew about this??? Reports on abuse were only automatically forwarded to the Vatican after 2001. Prior to that it was assumed that local bishops were handling the matter. Unfortunately, they weren’t.

    However, the issue of Cardinal Brady’s handling of Brendan Smyth’s victims was in the Irish papers in 1997. There was no outrage, there was hardly any comment on it at all. When the same story hit the headlines over a decade later there was an understandable widespread outrage. What does that tell us?

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    Mute Michael Feehan
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    May 26th 2012, 2:33 AM

    I was just speaking with a friend earlier about what could possibly be discovered if people(scholars) had unlimited access to the vatican vaults. Maybe they would discover the identity of the greatest inventor of them all, the person who invented religion.

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    Mute James Bowen
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    May 26th 2012, 12:03 AM

    let him off with 2 hail marys

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    Mute Dave Cahill
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    May 26th 2012, 11:29 AM

    At the risk of contradicting myself, I have no interest in religion but I am always amazed with the number of non-Catholics who feel the need to comment on articles about the church. If you are not a Catholic, then why not just ignore them? Obviously, what many priests did was utterly horrific and the way the hierarchy handled it was disgusting, but the longer you acknowledge them then the longer they will be around! Treat them like a troll…..don’t feed them!

    12
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    Mute Unitedpeople Ireland
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    May 26th 2012, 5:17 PM

    As long as this sick org continues to be two faced, full of lairs, robbers and cowards, then crime from them will continue to effect every nation, man woman and child.

    “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

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    Mute Caroline Molloy
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    May 26th 2012, 9:08 PM

    Dave, The Catholic Church has infiltrated Irish Society, They should only be ignored after they are rooted out!

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    Mute Dhakina's Sword
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    May 26th 2012, 12:52 AM

    Now that I think of it, “four nuns “. I’d be hard pressed to come up with a use for more than two. Maybe this is how he knows so much about our morals. Then again, he sounds like he has a lot of experience in these matters, or does he?. I don’t know, but I wouldn’t mind hanging out with some of his friends to find the answer.

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    Mute Paul Mallon
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    May 26th 2012, 6:21 AM

    I think there’s a job going there at the minute.

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    Mute kingstown
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    May 26th 2012, 9:31 AM

    What was Jesus’s teachings on butlers; oh wait he didn’t have one!!!!

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    Mute Larry O'Doherty
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    May 26th 2012, 10:50 AM

    When I saw the headline I thought the butler was doing plumbing nixers!

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    Mute Barry O'Neill
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    May 26th 2012, 12:37 AM
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