Pope Pardons Butler Who Stole Confidential Documents

Pope pardons butler who stole confidential documents

Rome - Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday pardoned his former butler, Paolo Gabriele, sentenced by a Vatican court to 18 months in jail for aggravated theft after being found guilty of stealing confidential papal documents and passing them on to the press.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the pontiff had visited Gabriele in prison during the morning and had told him during a15-minute chat that he would be pardoned. Gabriele, who was convicted in October, was then released.

"It was a paternal act towards a person with whom the pope shared daily life for years," Lombardi said, comparing Benedict’s Christmas act to that of the late John Paul II, who eventually forgave Ali Agca, the Turkish national who had shot him in St Peter’s Square in1981, during a visit to Agca’s prison cell.

However, Lombardi said Gabriele would no longer be allowed to work for the Holy See or reside in the Vatican.

Another man, computer technician Claudio Sciarpelletti, was handed a two-month suspended sentence in the so-called VatiLeaks scandal. Sciarpelletti was also expected to be pardoned at a future date, the Vatican said.

-- The Nation 2011-12-23