Vatican Leaks Scandal Report Due This Month: Spokesman

MSN
July 3, 2012

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The results of an investigation by a special committee of cardinals into a series of damaging leaks at the Vatican should be handed to Pope Benedict XVI by the end of July, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

The report by the cardinals, who have questioned a total of 28 lay and religious people in the Vatican, is expected to remain confidential.

Holy See investigators meanwhile have been interrogating the pope's former butler, Paolo Gabriele, who is the sole suspect and is in detention.

Gabriele, who was arrested on May 23, is accused of stealing documents from the papal chambers, copying them and passing them on to a journalist.

He risks up to six years in prison but could also be pardoned by the pope.

The documents revealed an atmosphere of intrigue at the Vatican and a series of accounting scandals but focused mainly on growing criticism within the Vatican of the Holy See's powerful Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said Gabriele's interrogations would conclude either next week or the week after, after which a Vatican judge would decide whether or not he should remain in detention and be put on trial.

If it goes ahead, a trial would not take place until October at the earliest, Lombardi said.