Pope Benedict’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, went on trial on Saturday for one of the most embarrassing episodes in recent Vatican history.
The trial of the 46-year-old man who served the pope his meals and helped him dress began at 9.30am. (3.30pm HK time) in the Vatican’s little-used tribunal, a small room with rich panelled wood and a papal emblem on its ceiling.
He was arrested in May after police found confidential documents in his apartment inside the Vatican, a dramatic twist that threw the global media spotlight on an institution battling to defend its reputation from allegations of graft.
A three-judge panel will decide the fate of Gabriele, whom the pope used to call “Paoletto” (little Paul) and who is now described in Vatican documents as “the defendant”.
Gabriele stands accused of stealing the pontiff’s personal papers and leaking them to the media in what he says was an attempt to clean up corruption at the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church.
A group of eight journalists were allowed into the courtroom and were due to brief other reporters after the end of the first session, which was expected to last up to three hours.