Papal Visit and Christmas Pardon for Paolo Gabriele

By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
December 24, 2012

vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/vatileaks-vatican-vaticano-20870/

[Translate to English:] Paolo Gabriele e Benedetto XVI

"Fatherly gesture toward a person with whom the Pope shared for years a daily familiarity "But it will not work for the Holy See

Pope Benedict’s decision about Paolo Gabriele, the butler guilty of stealing, copying, and circulating the vatileaks documents by removing them from the table of the Papal Secretariat, arrives today. The announcement of the pardon allow Gabriele, who is currently held in a cell in the palace, to return to his family to spend the holiday season without having to go back to prison afterwards. “Paoletto”, who was arrested last May after thousands of copies of confidential documents had been found in his home, was granted house arrest in late July. After being committed to trial on August 13th, and found guilty by the Court on October 6th following a short trial, Gabriele was back in prison on October 25th after the 18-month sentence had become definite because of the defense’s decision not to appeal. 

At the time he was being returned to prison, the Secretariat of State issued a statement denying that a Papal pardon could be taken for granted and stressing the seriousness of the actions committed by the former butler as well as the seriousness of its consequences. The Vatican note had been expressly approved by the Pope, who was particularly rattled by the incident. “Evil has crept among us”, he said to the Papal family during the days of the scandal. The impression of the Vatican hierarchy is that Gabriele had not fully repented and hadn't fully understood the scope of his action.  An understanding may have come during the recent weeks in jail, when he asked a priest, “How can I atone?”

An explanatory statement of the sentencing reads that the action of the former butler was damaging to “the person of the Pope, to the rights of the Holy See, of the whole Catholic Church and of the Vatican State; furthermore, such action was objectively damaging to the rights and interests of individuals and institutions.” But at the same time, “given Gabriele’s cognitive simplicity” which was highlighted by professor Tatarelli’s expert opinion, the Vatican judges have stated that “such personal condition could lead to the emergence of a subjective belief – though erroneous – of ‘benefiting rather than harming the Church’”, as affirmed by the butler.

It is still unclear what the fate of the main protagonist of vatileaks will be, who might be destined for some other duty within the sphere of the Vatican; the Holy See expects him to maintain confidentiality about the years he spent in the Papal apartment. In taking stock of the past year, yesterday Pope Benedict XVI decided not to make any reference to the case that has so heavily marked the year 2012 despite a proposal to this effect put before him by his advisors.