Vatican officials yesterday announced that the Vatican computer technician accused of helping steal confidential papal documents will go on trial in two weeks, reports the Catholic News Agency.
Giuseppe Dalla Torre, head of the Vatican Tribunal, announced that the first hearing for Claudio Sciarpelletti will take place on November 5. Sciarpelletti is accused of aiding and abetting the Pope’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, in stealing confidential Vatican papers which were later leaked to the Italian press.
At a press conference yesterday, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi also announced the publication of the 15-page Vatican Tribunal document that explains how the three-judge panel arrived at Gabriele’s guilty verdict on October 6.
When police officers searched Gabriele’s apartment May 23, following the publication of several confidential letters in Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi’s book “Your Holiness,” they discovered approximately 1,000 incriminating documents and 82 boxes of evidence.
Although a nugget of gold, a cheque in the Pope’s name and a 16th-century copy of The Aeneid were found in Gabriele’s possession, the former butler’s sentence focused solely on his theft of confidential papal documents.
The judges did not consider the other items found in Gabriele’s possession because they had doubts about the way the search was conducted that uncovered them, Fr Lombardi explained.
The report also showed that a psychiatric examination revealed no mental condition compromising Gabriele’s responsibility for the theft.
FULL STORY Vatican reveals new leaks trial, report on butler's sentencing (CNA)