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Vincenzo Pinto / AFP - Getty Images
Paolo Gabriele (bottom left), the pope's butler, was arrested three days ago for allegedly feeding documents to Italian journalists.
VATICAN CITY -- The worst crisis in Pope Benedict's pontificate deepened on Monday when Italian media said at least one cardinal was among those suspected of leaking sensitive documents as part of a power struggle at the top of the Catholic Church. The pope's butler, who has been arrested, has pledged to cooperate in the probe.
Leading Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera and Il Messaggero reported Monday that the pope's butler — arrested three days ago for allegedly feeding documents to Italian journalists — clearly did not act alone, and that an unidentified cardinal is suspected of playing a major role.
The scandal exploded last week when within a few days the pope's butler was arrested, the head of the Vatican's own bank was abruptly dismissed and a book was published alleging conspiracies among the cardinals or "princes of the Church."
Vatican cops arrest pope's butler over leaked papers alleging corruption
However, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, denied the reports that a cardinal might be the next target of the "Vatileaks" probe. He said many Vatican officials were being questioned but insisted: "There is no cardinal under suspicion."
Meanwhile, the lawyer for the pope's butler says his client has pledged "full cooperation" in the investigation and wants the truth to come out.
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The commitment by butler Paolo Gabriele to cooperate raises the specter that higher-ranking prelates may soon be named in the scandal. Leaks of confidential Vatican correspondence have shed light on power struggles and intrigue inside the highest levels of the Catholic Church.
Gabriele, the pope's personal butler since 2006, was arrested Wednesday evening after documents he had no business having were found inside his Vatican City apartment. He remains in detention in a Vatican detention facility, accused of theft, and has met with his wife and lawyers.
The 46-year-old father of three was always considered extremely loyal to Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, for whom he briefly served. Vatican insiders said they were baffled by his alleged involvement. Gabriele's lawyer, Carlo Fusco, reported Monday that Gabriele was "very serene and calm."
So far, Gabriele has been the only one arrested, but Lombardi stressed that the investigation was continuing.
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The probe is working on two separate tracks. Vatican magistrates are pursuing the criminal investigation, and Gabriele was arrested as part of that. Separately, Pope Benedict appointed three cardinals to form an investigative commission to look beyond the narrow criminal scope of the leaks.
Those cardinals have the authority to interview broadly across the Vatican bureaucracy, Lombardi said, and can both share information with Vatican prosecutors and receive information from them.
The Catholic Church accused the nation's largest organization of American nuns of espousing "radical feminist" ideas. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell discusses the charges with Sister Jeannine Gramick, who was once silenced by the Vatican, and Jeff Stone, communications director of Dignity USA.
They report directly to the pope, who Lombardi said, was being kept informed of the investigation.
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Benedict has not commented directly on the scandal.
Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators marched to St. Peter's Square on Sunday to demand information on Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican messenger who disappeared in 1983 at the age of 15.
Various theories have surrounded her disappearance, linking her kidnapping to an attempt to free the Turkish gunman who shot John Paul in 1981, or to alleged Vatican financial dealings with a Rome criminal gang.
The march came a day after an Italian prosecutor told CNN that a priest who used to run a church in Rome is under investigation on suspicion of complicity in her abduction.
Reuters and The Associated Press Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Ex-religious
What makes you so different, then what you just accused everyone else of.
Do you help old women across the street.
Do you carry an old persons groceries,
Are you a big brother to the orphanes.
Are you respectful to others.
Do you open doors for ladies, young and old, good looking or ugly.
Do you help someone in need when they need it.
Do you give money to the poor.
Do you visit the sick and dying in the hospitals.
If not guess your in that catogory also. Hypcrite
And I bet you thought all the corruption, bribery, secrecy
and scandal was over in the Catholic church when the Borgia's rule ended. Guess
not!
The REAl scandal: The media playing this stupid story about a butler when 43 LAWSUITS were placed this week against the government by the Catholic Church, her hospitals, social welfare agencies, etc. But, Nothing about that at MSN, is there. This story is a stupid ploy to divert attention away from lawsuits placed to guard Constitutional freedom of religion. The agenda is clear at MSN.
I think it about time we see that churches are finally facing the @!$%# being done to them that they have tried for so many years to do to others. How dose it feel now that the shoe is on the other foot and kicking your asses? Bend over churches and take it up the ass. KARMA KICKS ASS. Im enjoying the show.
If you don't have anything to hide, why care if something is leaked?
Then why was the "Leaks' guy be prosecuted then?
There was a time when the Catholic principality ban the reading of the bible. they burned them. Most people knew and understood why; the truth will take away the power they had long coveted from God. Christ is the way, not the ways these sanctimonous men in robes would like them to believe. Men will always follow Satan's way once they are into competition...for power, not just with their fellowmen but with God. Deliberate and intentional disregard for what is right...is an unforgivable sin. The hope of the faithful is in doing the Charity work Christ had shown us. There is still salvation for the innocent and the sincere believer of Christ. Let the Vatican goes its way but hold on to Christ.
The Catholic Church assembled the Bible, dear. It set up the Canon which you read. There are many uninformed and unChristianlike comments on this site. Prayers for truth to prevail.
P.S. Please do some study and prayer: the only unforgiveable sin is against the Holy Spirit - not believing in God's mercy and forgiveness.
I await with baited breath the day the Catholic Church and this ghoulish pope come tumbling down.
"The gates of hell shall not prevail."
Now is the time to prepare to meet the righteous judge. This is not the time to run any church down. We shall all have to give an account of how we lived our lives on earth. Ones only hope lies in the resurrected one Jesus Christ. If anyone does not believe in Jesus Christ then he (or she) is condemned. We must all receive Christ as our savior ,there is no other way. I hope I do not get a (bubblegum) message that my post cannot be listed.
...It is good to see that everyone here is having a good time with this. The lead sentence talks about the crisis now `deepened'...sounds like a Deep Throat is cuming next...And the butler did it....Now a Cardinal will be flying out of the bag.
Ok. guys, this is the bottom line.. The Vatican is not subject to the laws of man. Do they really think that the Supreme Deity is NoT watching them? Honestly, Jesus and the first Peter would be ashamed of this political nonsense! This 'ROCK' (Peter) I will build my church upon? What a pile of political craptacular nonsense! The Vatican is a major POLITICAL force, NOT ruled by religion, but politics. I;m NOT Catholic, but i am a Christian, and I've thought for a long while (LONG before the dramatic series 'The Borgias') that the Vatican is corrupt, but there You go.. Are YOu TRULY surprised at this leak/disclosure? Give me a break! Politics is Politics! Buying votes is just a matter of perspective! Look at John Edwards! Money is money, whether it comes from church donations, or political donations.
\Seriously, I truly FEEL for the honest, truly worshipful Catholics who may be disillusioned by this, and question their faith. All I can say to them is "My friends, keep your faith, and understand that God canNOT be bought". HE WILL prevail, and those culpable will be punished! And then forgiven! As my husband once said, when I pray, I do NOT want Justice, I want MERCY! So, let's all remember that fact!
I pray Lord God for the very soul of my brother, one of the several brothers, Roman Catholic Church's Pope, Big Papa, Pope Benedict.
Do you think, I wonder, these much adored persons have anything close enough to be identified as (human) soul?
Methinks NOT.
Christianity has come a long way. I mean from founder's spirituality to these self agrandizing den of materialistic vipers.
Don't blame demon or demons either. This Pope is a reincarnation of one.
...and I am Sid Harth@gosumercogito.blogspot.com
For all things not good among the good and the evil shall be judged in the world and only the good and wisdom that goes with it shall survive in the end. Man in his infinite wisdom will continue to learn this until which time the true kingdom of God shall come to spread the only true doctrone of life and that is that Love is universal to all things living and that Love is eternal for all living things and that true wisdom comes from that Love. All else is but the politics of happyness which is greed, lust, wanting, and wondering what justice man will think of next.
Leave it to the liberal strong arm of our government and MSNBC to promote headlines of scandal and stretch wild accusations always against the Catholic Church, without any substance or proof thereof-EVER! There will always be someone who chooses to follow some improprieties over correct judgement for a measly sum of money and their five minutes of fame, no different than a breach of protocol at the highest levels of our government by some politician or high level clerk wanting to make a headline for a bribe. The Catholic Church is no exception, where liberals are always pounding at the doors of the Catholic Church and denouncing Christianity for all its values and beliefs that us Catholics refuse to accept any liberal agenda of change worldwide. I believe in God and Jesus Christ Almighty as my savior and follow the doctrine of the Catholic Church just as it is-WITHOUT CHANGE! Never does the liberal media publish and push their wacko social agenda by denouncing the Jewish, Baptist, Mormon, Muslim, Buddhist's, etc, etc, faiths against any alleged wrongful improprieties. Makes me wonder who is behind all these false allegations of far stretched imagination?
So the media never "publish and push their wacko social agenda by denouncing" those (racist) Southern Baptists, Mormon polygamy or Muslim suicide bombers? Really???
Is anyone really surprised by this? That an extremely wealthy group of people who are literally their own government and make their own rules might have some kind of secret power struggle?
this butler should go down as a hero.
Backstabbers. Pathetic examples for "men of god".
I happen to think they are perfect examples of men of god. All Idiots.
ALL organized religion is BAD!!! When will idiots wake up and see that they are only giving their money to thieves!
I am a Catholic, but, currently not a practing one, I however, agree with the butler. If there is corruption that he doesn't agree with he should report it! End of story. I would do it, hopefully anyone else who is moral and shock by the information that is that he is exposed to would also. I, personally don't care for this current pope because he is blasting our American nuns who work so hard with the poor. Apparently they are not doing enough! Why he was elected to be this pope is beyond me...he must have had more political ties and money. And we all know how that goes in this country.
All humans, including the pope exist as imperfect creations of God, who is perfect. The pope is only another imperfect human, selected by imperfect humans and has exceptional religious superiority only when he speaks ex cathedra.
Somebody needs to take this old nazi bastard out.........as well as his "church" of pedophiles.
This is what happens when you run a secretive, medieval city-state.
His confidentiality contract was signed and witnessed by a Higher Authority. At the end of the day,
his verdict has already been found without a shadow of doubt.
I did not see anything in this article that explains what the "scandal" or the "crisis" is. Is something criminal alleged? If so, what is it?
Are we talking about cardinals who disagree among themselves? If so, what do they disagree about and what is wrong about having disagreements?
This is yellow journalism at its worst. The least we can expect is some facts about something tangible that we can understand!
Another church scandal, why should we be surprised. Jesus if he is real is turning over in his grave.
Jesus ascended.
On topic I hope the truth comes out. We sure can't count on MSNBC to tell us the truth now can we. In fact we can't count on MSNBC to tell us any real news.
Like the 40 major church bases that are suing the US government over the healthcare mandate.
Religions prey.
JESUS is not in a grave .
The Pope is very special. He is so special that The Vatican had to "consecrate" 4 women just to clean his apartment. Imaginne that?! His ass hairs are so sacred, that he needs specially "consecrated" women to clean them out of his holy toilet (Holy S@#T, Batman!!). I don't know why they had to consecrate 4women to do that when they already had many consecrated Cardinals and Bishops, who are just as capable of sticking their face in "His Excellency's" tolilet bowl as any woman. Why do the women get to have all the fun!!!