Vatileaks: Gabriele says he had no accomplices, got no money but was mistreated
Former papal butler tells his side of the story during trial. The pope’s personal secretary rejects the butler’s claims about why and when he took the documents. Vatican Gendarmerie says the accused was treated in a friendly manner.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Former papal butler Paolo Gabriele said he did not have any direct accomplices but was “in contact” with some people. He began “collecting” documents in 2010 when the “case of Mgr Carlo Maria Viganò came to light”. Baffled and disconcerted “by a situation that had become unbearable and widespread in the Vatican,” he “started believing that it was easy to manipulate a person that has so much power in his hands,” namely the pope.
The much-awaited trial of Benedict XVI’s butler began today. Charged with stealing papal documents, Paolo Gabriele said he only photocopied them. However, called to testify today, the pope’s personal secretary, Mgr Georg Gaenswein, has questioned the butler’s claims that all he did was to photocopy documents and that he had started in 2010.
“When I went with the gendarmes to see the documents taken from Paolo Gabriele, I saw original documents as well as photocopies. The oldest originals I saw dated back to 2006, when Paolo Gabriele joined the service.”
“I saw original documents and copies from 2006, 2007 and 2008.” Statements by the gendarmes indicate that many of the papers seized “involved the Free Masons and the Secret Services” [emphasis added].
During the hearing, Paolo Gabriele complained about abuses during his detention. He said he was held for about 20 days in a small cell with lights kept on 24 hours a day, with negative consequences for his eyesight.
“Every cell in the Vatican, even the smallest, meets international standards,” said Fr Federico Lombardi, head of the Holy See Press Office.
What is more, Gabriele received various visitors during that period, Fr Lombardi said. Hence, it is strange that his allegations should emerge only now.
In a press release, the Vatican Gendarmerie said that Gabriele “had constant contacts, especially in early days, with spiritual assistants, that he attended Holy mass with his family, that he was authorised unlimited visiting hours with his relatives and was able to see his lawyers, that his rights were fully respected.”
The presiding judge, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, charged Nicola Picardi, the promoter of justice (prosecutor) with opening a file (n. 52/20120) on the matter.
Gabriele, who has pleaded innocence, said he feels “guilty only of betraying the trust the Holy Father placed in me,” adding that he loved the pope as a son would.
“I did not have any accomplices,” he explained. In exchange for Benedict XVI’s personal papers, he did “I receive any money or benefits,” he said, whether for himself or for others.
The former butler did not mention the gifts given to the pope that were found in his flat: an apparent gold nugget hidden in his shoes, a check for 100,000 Euros “found later among the documents that were discovered,” as well as an ancient version of Virgil’s Aeneid.
Explaining why he took the documents, Gabriele said that he had been “influenced by the situation, especially the realisation that I was faced with unsolved mysteries. I had many contacts, and shared confidences with Cardinals Sardi and Comastri, Mgr Francesco Cavina, bishop of Carpi, and Ingrid Stampa, who has been the pope’s housekeeper from the time he was Card Joseph Ratzinger.
Vatileaks. There’s a little of everything in the documents seized from Gabriele: the Pope’s letters, plus papers on Freemasonry, esotericism, the P2 Lodge, Calvi, Berlusconi, yoga, Buddhism
Hearing dedicated to the testimonies of police. In the “hundreds of thousands” the documents found at the home of Benedicxt XVI’s former butler, only “one thousand” regarding the Pope and the Holy See. ”At the very beginning the Commander of the Gendarmerie (Police) Domenico Giani issued an order to protect Gabriel and his family, he has been treated with kid gloves”, “in the best way possible.” “Gabriele expressed his gratitude many times for the treatment received”.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The documents number in the “hundreds of thousands”, found at the home of Paolo Gabriele, Benedict XVI’s ex-butler on trial for aggravated theft. Just “over a thousand” have to do with the Pope and the Holy See, the rest of the documents reveal at least a very acute interest in secrets and esotericism: papers relating to Freemasonry, esotericism, the P2 Lodge, P4, Luigi Bisignani, the Calvi case, Berlusconi, the IOR and the AIF (the Authority on the Vatican’s financial information), the Vatileaks case, Christianity and yoga, Christianity and other religions, Buddhism, how to hide .jpg and Word files, how to record videos, how to use your mobile phone in covert mode.”
Today, at the third hearing in the trial, which lasted around an hour and a quarter, four witnesses were heard, all called by the defense. They are the gendarmes Luca Cintia, Stefano De Santis, Silvano Carli and Luca Bassetti who testified on the searches and on the defendant’s treatment in prison.
Concerning the letters found, the witnesses confirmed that many were originals and not photocopies, answering repeatedly the question asked by the presiding judge, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, if they had personally seen original documents during the search or later, after the seizure of 82 boxes of paper and computer materials. The documents seized number in the “hundreds of thousands”, which filled 82 moving boxes (approximately 50 x 60 cm), two large yellow bags and two black leather bags. Among them, a thousand are papal documents, documents of the Secretariat of State, of the Vatican congregations and of the Pontifical Councils, on the “privacy and family life” of the Pope, “letters written by Cardinals to the Pope to make suggestions or ask for advice”, “responses of the Pope to Cardinals”, “documents with the Pope’s signature”, “encrypted documents”, “documents bearing the words in German ‘to destroy’”. In short, “many more documents than those mentioned in the book” by Gianluigi Nuzzi, His Holiness.
As regards Gabriele’s treatment, the gendarmes claimed that they used “kid gloves” both during the seizure and in his cell. Thus, during the search they invited the family to leave the house, so as to reduce as much as possible the discomfort to his children and his wife. The police Vice-Commissar, Luca Cintia, responsible for the custody of the accused, then wanted to make a statement in relation to the allegation of abuse made yesterday by Gabriele, even though the Chief Magistrate had reminded the court that the investigation into violations while in custody is the subject of other proceedings, aimed at verifying what happened but also any false declarations. Dalla Torre also pointed out that the records, already deposited, show that Gabriel has recevied all sorts of assurances, such as: family visits, medical and spiritual assistance. ”At the very beginning”, Cintia said, for his part, “the Commander of the Gendarmerie (Police) Domenico Giani issued an order to protect Gabriel and his family; he has been treated with kid gloves”, “in the best way possible.” “Gabriele expressed his gratitude many times for the treatment received”.
The trial is due to conclude next Saturday. It will start with the indictment by the Promoter of Justice (Prosecutor) Nicola Picardi, then it will be the defense’s turn to speak, with the attorney Cristiana Arru. After any rebuttals by the prosecution and the defense, the accused will be allowed to speak. The ruling could arrive the same day.
Is the butler a Mason, a religious syncretist, or a dabbler in the occult?
From Vatican Insider’s report on the third day of the trial (vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/vatileaks-vaticano-vatican-18620/):