LA REPUBBLICA (Italy)
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican confirmed Saturday that Pope Benedict XVI’s personal butler has been arrested, as a scandal over leaks to the press and alleged financial corruption threatens to spin out of control, La Repubblica reports.
Beyond the substance of the charges, the arrest of Paolo Gabriele, a layman who lives with his family in an apartment inside Vatican City, adds an extra dose of intrigue to a scandal that reveals back-stabbing and power struggles at the highest levels of the global Catholic Church. Insiders say that is almost certain that higher ranking Vatican officials are involved in the leaking of documents.
In a previously planned ceremony, the Pope appeared to refer Saturday to the scandal by declaring that the “wind blows agains the house…but it does not fall because it was built on rock.” What has been dubbed “Vatileaks’ is seen by many observers of as an attempt to undermine the Pope’s No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state.
Gabriele, who is alleged to have leaked private papal correspondences of the Pope and his aides, is often seen by the pope’s side in both public events and among those with the privilege to meet in private with the 85-year-old pontiff. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi confirmed that Gabriele remains in custody of the Vatican’s internal justice system. Here’s a video of Gabriele inside the papal apartment:
