REUTERS ARABBEWS
Sunday 7 October 2012

VATICAN CITY: A Vatican court convicted Pope Benedict’s former butler of stealing sensitive documents and sentenced him to 18 months in prison yesterday, at the end of one of the most sensational trials in the recent history of the Holy See.

A Vatican spokesman said the pope, who reigns as a supreme monarch in the world’s smallest city-state, would “most likely” pardon Paolo Gabriele, which would mean he would not have to serve his sentence.
The court delivered its verdict after two hours of deliberations and closing arguments by the prosecution and defense.

Gabriele had admitted being the source of leaks of highly sensitive papers, including letters to the pope that alleged corruption in the Vatican’s business dealings. “What I feel most strongly inside myself is the conviction that I acted exclusively out of love, I would say a visceral love, for the Church of Christ and its visible representative,” he said in an impassive voice during a final appeal to the court.

READ MORE HERE:http://www.arabnews.com/ex-papal-butler-convicted-sentenced-18-months-jail