New trial in Vatican scandal offers insider look at Holy See's workings

The trial this week of a Vatican computer whiz over his alleged role in an embarrassing scandal of filched confidential papal documents is offering a chance for an insider glimpse at the Holy See’s security workings.

Among those expected to testify in the trial, which begins on Monday in a Vatican City tribunal, are the pope’s top bodyguard, a commander of the legendary Swiss Guards and a Vatican security official connected to an Italian company with expertise in detecting eavesdropping devices.

Also on the witness list is Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict’s former butler who is serving an 18-month prison sentence at the Vatican. It will be Gabriele’s first opportunity for public comment since the Holy See tribunal convicted him last month of stealing the pontiff’s private letters and leaking them to an Italian journalist in one of the worst breaches of Vatican security in recent memory.

The leaks exposed infighting among Vatican bureaucrats, intrigue and allegations of corruption.

Claudio Sciarpelletti, a 48-year-old computer programming analyst in the powerful office of Secretariat of State, was originally supposed to be tried with Gabriele earlier this autumn. But his lawyer succeeded in having his client tried separately. Sciarpelletti is charged with aiding and abetting Gabriele.

The judge at the first trial, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, will also conduct Sciarpelletti’s trial.

Lawyer Gianluca Benedetti has said that his client is innocent and insisted that there were no confidential documents in a sealed envelope that Vatican police said was found in Sciarpelletti’s desk. The envelope, according to the indictment, was marked “Personal P. Gabriele”.