• Pope's brother: Pontiff was troubled by butler's revelations

    As Catholics worldwide come to terms with the news that Pope Benedict XVI is abdicating his position, becoming the first pope to do so in more than 700 years, Georg Ratzinger, the pope's brother, says the aging process is impacting him "body and soul." NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    By Carlo Angerer and Ian Johnston, NBC News

    Pope Benedict XVI was troubled by "some great challenges" during his time in office -- including allegations of corruption within the church that were illegally exposed by his former butler and his relationship with a controversial Catholic brotherhood -- the pontiff’s brother said Tuesday.

    Speaking to reporters in Germany, Georg Ratzinger said the pope was “doing relatively well” and his announcement Monday that he was going to stand down had not had an effect on his health.

    Slideshow: The life of Pope Benedict XVI

    Javier Barbancho / AFP - Getty Images

    Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Look back at his life from childhood through his papacy.

    Launch slideshow

    On Monday, Benedict, 85, explained his resignation, saying that the papacy required “strength of mind and body” and his had deteriorated in recent months. On Tuesday, the Vatican acknowledged for the first time that the pope has had a pacemaker for years and that its battery was replaced a few months ago in secret, Reuters reported.

    “But you notice that the aging process impacts body and soul, and especially on his strength," Ratzinger said Tuesday. "And he thinks that with a reduced workload he couldn't carry on this great responsibility, that a younger person is needed to capture the problems of today's time and who has the power to do what has to be done.” 

    'Indiscretions'
    Ratzinger said the pope’s time in office had “created great challenges for him,” highlighting two particular issues that concerned his brother.

     "Within the church a lot of things happened, which brought up troubles, for example the relationship to the Pius Brotherhood or the irregularities within the Vatican, where the butler had let known indiscretions,” he said.

    “These were emotional years, but with God's help and his own commitment, I think he mastered it rather well,” he added.

    Ratzinger did not specify the pope’s issues with the Pius Brotherhood, or Society of St. Pius X as the group is formally known.

    But in late December, Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the group, described Jews as “the enemies of the church” to widespread condemnation from within and outside the Catholic Church. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, reportedly said it was “absolutely unacceptable, impossible to define Jews as enemies of the church.”

    In October, the pope’s former butler Paolo Gabriele was given an 18-month prison sentence in the so-called “Vatileaks” case, after he was found guilty of stealing thousands of Vatican documents -- including some of Benedict’s private papers and letters alleging corruption within the church -- while working for the pontiff.

    Some of papers were leaked to the media and, in court, Gabriele said he acted out of concern for the church and the pope. The pope pardoned Gabriele just before Christmas.

    On a brighter note, Ratzinger said foreign trips had also been “important” to the pope, enabling him “to have a pastoral impact, to find friends and to create understanding for the message of the Gospel.”

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Pope visits jail to pardon ex-butler who leaked private papers

    AFP - Getty Images

    Former Vatican butler Paolo Gabriele meets Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican City prison Saturday, as seen in this handout photo released by the Osservatore Romano.

    By Reuters

    VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict made a surprise pre-Christmas visit to the jail holding his former butler on Saturday and pardoned him for stealing and leaking documents that alleged corruption in the Holy See.


    The pope and Paolo Gabriele spent about 15 minutes together before Gabriele was freed and allowed to return to his family in their Vatican apartment, a Vatican spokesman said.

    Gabriele was convicted of aggravated theft on Oct. 6 in a case that shone unwelcome publicity on the Vatican and had been serving an 18-month sentence in a jail cell in the city state's police headquarters.

    "This was a paternal gesture towards a person with whom the pope shared his daily life for several years," Father Federico Lombardi, a spokesman, said.

    "This is a happy ending in this Christmas season," he said.

    Pope Benedict: 'Sadness in my heart' over butler leak scandal

    Gabriele was arrested in May after Vatican police found many documents in his possession that had been stolen from the pope's office.

    The former butler gave them to the media in what mushroomed into an embarrassing scandal for Benedict's pontificate that became known as "Vatileaks."

    The pope's once-trusted butler, Paulo Gabriele, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his part in leaking private Vatican documents. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.

    Pope's ex-butler Paolo Gabriele gets 18-month sentence in 'Vatileaks' case

    Gabriele told investigators he had leaked the documents because he saw "evil and corruption everywhere in the Church" and that information was being hidden from the pope.

    The Vatican said the pope had also pardoned a second Vatican employee, Claudio Sciarpelletti, who was convicted in a separate trial of helping Gabriele and given a two month suspended sentence.

    Gabriele will no longer be able to work in the Vatican but will be helped to find a job and start a new life outside its walls together with his family, the Vatican said.

    Pope's ex-butler says eyesight was damaged by 24-hour light in Vatican cell

    Gabriele, 46, told the court that convicted him at the trial - one of the most sensational in the recent history of the Holy See - that he did not consider himself a thief and that he had done what he did out of "visceral" love for the Church.

    In one of the most dramatic betrayals of trust in Vatican history, Gabriele, who served the pope his meals and helped him dress, photocopied sensitive documents under the nose of his immediate superiors in a small office adjacent to the papal living quarters in the Apostolic Palace.

    He then hid more than 1,000 copies and original documents, including some the pope had marked "to be destroyed," among many thousands of other papers and old newspaper clippings in a huge armoire in the family apartment inside the Vatican walls.

    A former member of the small, select group known as "the papal family", Gabriele was one of fewer than 10 people who had a key to an elevator leading directly to the pope's apartments. 

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  • Computer expert spared prison in Vatileaks affair

    A Vatican computer expert has been found guilty of helping the pope's personal butler leak classified documents. NBC's Claudio Lavanga reports.

    By Claudio Lavanga, NBC News

    ROME — A Vatican computer expert charged with helping the pope's former butler Paolo Gabriele to steal and leak papal documents to a journalist was given a suspended, two-month prison sentence Saturday.

    Claudio Sciarpelletti was initially given a four-month sentence, but it was reduced immediately to two months because of his clean record and later suspended.


    In reading the verdict, chief judge Giuseppe della Torre said Sciarpelletti was sentenced for "obstructing justice."

    Gabriele was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October for stealing and leaking papal documents.

    Pope's ex-butler Paolo Gabriele gets 18-month sentence in 'Vatileaks' case

    During his testimony Saturday, Sciarpelletti said he said he gave contradictory statements over the source of an envelope containing documents addressed to Paolo Gabriele because he was in a state of "shock" and "panic" following his arrest and the night spent in a Vatican prison cell.

    He said he forgot who gave him the envelope as he had received it more than two years before it was found.

    Sciarpelletti admitted to have written "Paolo Gabriele" on the envelope, but insisted he didn't know who gave it to him.

    'Did it for my children'
    Carlo Maria Polvani, head of the Vatican’s information office and Sciarpelletti's boss, said he had never seen the envelope and had not given it to Sciarpelletti.

    Polvani is the nephew of cleric Carlo Maria Vigano, who tried to expose a web of corruption and nepotism in the awarding of contracts for the maintenance of Vatican real estate – something revealed by the leaking of the documents. Vigano was later sent to become Washington ambassador, a move seen by some as a way to drive him away from the Vatican.  

    Polvani told the judges that Sciarpelletti told him after he was arrested and released: "Please forgive me. I did it for my children and my family."

    The pope's once-trusted butler, Paulo Gabriele, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his part in leaking private Vatican documents. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.

    Pope's ex-butler says eyesight was damaged by 24-hour light in Vatican cell

    He said he believed Gabriele and Sciarpelletti were good friends, and that Gabriele would come see him in the office often. This contradicted Sciarpelletti's lawyer's declaration that he and the butler knew each other, but were not close.

    Gabriele said Sciarpelletti was a friend and a confidant, and that he gave him the documents found in the envelope on his desk by Vatican authorities back in May.

    He told the judges he used to give Sciarpelletti printouts of documents he would download from the Internet, but that he never handed out any reserved, official or confidential documents.  

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  • Pope's ex-butler Paolo Gabriele gets 18-month sentence in 'Vatileaks' case

    The pope's once-trusted butler, Paulo Gabriele, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his part in leaking private Vatican documents. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.

    By Claudio Lavanga, NBC News, and wire reports

    VATICAN CITY — The pope’s former butler was convicted in the "Vatileaks" case Saturday and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Paolo Gabriele will serve his sentence under house arrest in his Vatican apartment while awaiting a possible papal pardon, his lawyer said.

    Gabriele was found guilty of stealing thousands of Vatican documents — including some of Pope Benedict’s private papers and letters alleging corruption within the church — while working for the pontiff. Some of papers were later leaked to the media.

    Defense lawyer Cristiana Arru said after the hearing that she did not plan to appeal the sentence, describing it as "just," Reuters reported.

    Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi suggested the pope would intervene.

    "Now that we have a sentence, the pope will evaluate whether to pardon him. There is a concrete and real possibility of his forgiveness, but it will up to him to decide if and when," Lombardi said.

    Vincenzo Pinto / AFP - Getty Images

    The pope's former butler Paolo Gabriele, seen arriving with the pontiff for a weekly audience in St Peter's Square, Rome, in June 2007, said Saturday he acted out of love for the church.

    Before the verdict was announced, Gabriele, wearing a dark gray suit, a white shirt, and a blue tie, insisted he was not a thief and that he had acted out of concern for the Catholic church and the pontiff.

    "What I feel strongly inside me, is the conviction of having acted out of exclusive and visceral love for Jesus' church, and for his visible leader. I repeat, I don’t feel like a thief," he told the tribunal.

    'Rewarded' one day?
    Arru had argued there was no theft, as Gabriele photocopied the documents and did not remove the originals.

    She said he was driven by his faith, high morals and by motives that she hoped one day would be "recognized and rewarded" as he was pushed to do what he did by the "evil" he saw around him.

    Pope's ex-butler says eyesight was damaged by 24-hour light in Vatican cell

    Arru said Gabriele had shown a "lack of respect" toward the confidentiality of the material he had access to, but insisted her client had not actually stolen the documents.

    She also said Gabriele had not benefited personally from his actions. Gabriele has always maintained he never received money or presents in exchange of the documents.

    Pope Benedict: 'Sadness in my heart' over butler leak scandal

    Arru had asked for the charges to be changed from theft to embezzlement.

    The pope's former butler is accused of stealing thousands of private papal documents. In the 'Vatileaks' trial that has captured the world, Paolo Gabriele tells the court why he did it. NBC's Michelle Kosinki reports.

    Gabriele was actually sentenced to the three years in prison requested by the prosecution, but this was reduced to 18 months due to his belief he was acting in good faith, clean record, and admission of guilt.

    The prosecutor, Nicola Picardi, said that, according to his psychological profile, Gabriele was "suggestible" and easily influenced by others.

    Picardi wondered whether it was possible that other people were involved, but said "there is no proof" that Gabriele, who has insisted he acted alone, had an accomplice.

    Picardi added that Gabriele had confessed to the crime to Father Giovanni Luzi, a priest, and handed him some of the documents before his arrest.

    After the hearing, Gabriele went back to his Vatican apartment under house arrest.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Vatican trial: Pope wanted stolen papers destroyed, police say

    The pope's former butler is accused of stealing thousands of private papal documents. In the "Vatileaks" trial that has captured the world, Paolo Gabriele tells the court why he did it. NBC's Michelle Kosinki reports.

    By NBC News wire services

    Members of the Vatican police force said Wednesday that some of the documents found at the home of Pope Benedict XVI's former butler were signed by the pope with a note that they should be destroyed. Some of the papers were about the pontiff's "private life," an officer said.

    The police were testifying in the trial of Paolo Gabriele, the pope's once-trusted butler who faces four years in prison if convicted of aggravated theft for stealing papal documents and leaking them to a journalist in the so-called "Vatileaks" affair.

    Officers also said that the theft of encrypted Vatican documents had compromised some Vatican operations, and that Gabriele had printed instructions on how to hide computer files and use cellphones secretly. 


    The final four witnesses were heard Wednesday and closing arguments are set for Saturday, when a verdict by the three-judge Vatican panel is expected.

    Pope's ex-butler says eyesight was damaged by 24-hour light in Vatican cell

    Vatican police inspector Silvano Carli said that of the hundreds of thousands of documents seized from Gabriele's home — they filled 82 moving boxes — about 1,000 were of interest since they were original or photocopied Vatican documents.

    Some came from the pope's office, some carried the processing codes of the secretariat of state, others originated in various Vatican congregations "and some documents concerned the total privacy and private life of the Holy Father," said police officer Stefano De Santis.

    Video shows and anti-austerity protester jumping the railing at the observation deck atop St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to set up camp with a sign on the iconic Italian dome. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

    He said some of the originals carried the pope's handwriting with a note to destroy them written in German. Some were reproduced in journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi's book "His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI's secret papers," he said.

    Freemasony, yoga, Vatican bank
    The rest of the documentation concerned esoteric religious issues and academic research into Freemasonry, Christianity, Buddhism, yoga and politicians, as well as the Vatican Bank, the officers said.

    "See how much I like to read and study," De Santis quoted Gabriele as telling the officers during the search of his home.

    Pope Benedict's XVI former butler took the stand in a Vatican courtroom and admitted to stealing private documents from the papal apartment, but  Paulo Gabriele said he didn't feel guilty of aggravated theft.  He also said he feels guilty of betraying the pontiff's trust.  NBC's Claudio Lavanga reports.  

    Prosecutors have said Gabriele, a devout 46-year-old father of three, confessed to leaking copies of the documents to Nuzzi because he wanted to expose the "evil and corruption" in the church to help put it back on the right path.

    Gabriele said Tuesday he stood by his June 5 confession and acknowledged he betrayed the pope's trust, but he nevertheless pleaded innocent to the charge of aggravated theft.

    Pope Benedict: 'Sadness in my heart' over butler leak scandal

    The security breach within the pope's own entourage has been one of the most damaging scandals of his seven-year papacy.

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Pope's ex-butler says eyesight was damaged by 24-hour light in Vatican cell

    Pope Benedict's XVI former butler took the stand in a Vatican courtroom and admitted to stealing private documents from the papal apartment, but  Paulo Gabriele said he didn't feel guilty of aggravated theft.  He also said he feels guilty of betraying the pontiff's trust.  NBC's Claudio Lavanga reports.  

    By NBC's Claudio Lavanga and wire reports

    The pope’s former butler Paolo Gabriele testified Tuesday that he was held in isolation in a tiny cell with the light on 24 hours a day for the first two weeks after he was accused of stealing and leaking private documents to the media.

    The case -- dubbed "Vatileaks" -- saw the butler imprisoned in the Vatican police station while investigators seized 82 boxes of evidence from the apartment where he lived with his wife and three children.

    The president of the Vatican tribunal opened an inquiry into Gabriele’s treatment during his detention after he told the court that the constant light had caused problems with his sight.


    He also said his cell was so small that he was not able to extend his arms.

    Responding to the claim in court, a spokesman for the Vatican, Father Federico Lombardi, said, "Vatican cells comply to international standards, but we are taking the accusation seriously and an inquiry has been opened."

    Gabriele, 46, told a Vatican court that he was solely responsible for the leaks – confirming what he told prosecutors during the pre-trial investigation – but despite this declared himself innocent of charges of aggravated theft, saying “I only feel guilty of having betrayed the trust the Holy Father placed in me.”

    L'Osservatore Romano via AP

    The pope's former butler Paolo Gabriele in the courtroom of the Vatican on Sunday.

    He denied he was helped by an accomplice and that he had received money or presents in exchange for the documents from an Italian journalist.

    Cronyism
    Gabriele admitted that in 2010 he started collecting the documents, including letters to the pope in which Monsignor Carlo Maria Vigano -- then a senior Vatican functionary -- expressed concern about improper behavior in the Holy See's business dealings.

    Vigano denounced a web of corruption, cronyism and nepotism in the awarding of contracts for the maintenance of Vatican real estate to outside companies at inflated prices. Vigano was later removed from his post and sent to become the Vatican’s ambassador to Washington, seen by some as a way to push him away from Rome.

    Trial of pope's former butler over leaked papers gets under way

    Gabriele said that he felt disheartened by what he described as an unbearable situation. Initially, he planned only to gather information and did not intend to leak the documents to the media, he said.

    The Pope's former butler is on trial for stealing private documents and giving them to the media. NBC's Claudio Lavanga reports.

    He said that after leaking the documents he realized he would soon face justice and decided to turn himself in.

    However Gabriele did not know how to go about this, so he confessed to a priest only known as Father Giovanni, and gave him a copy of the documents.

    Vatican says the 'butler did it,' orders trial

    He was asked about Vatican property allegedly found at his home.

    Asked about a 16th century edition of the Aeneid, he said he just took it for educational reasons for his son and daughter. “I didn’t know the value of this book,” he said.

    And of a $130,000 check found by investigators, he said: “I never saw that check in my house.” He furtherdenied having had a gold nugget at home.

    Pope easy to manipulate?
    Gabriele also spoke about dining with the pope.

    “I had the unique opportunity to speak to him. That’s where I realized that it’s easy to manipulate somebody with such an enormous decisional power. Sometimes he would ask questions about situations he should have been aware of,” he said.

    Conducted under a 19th-century criminal code, the trial began with a setback for the defense on Saturday when judges refused to admit evidence from the Church's own investigation.

    Gabriele's lawyer, Cristiana Arru, hoped to explain her client's motives by admitting as evidence an inquiry by a commission of cardinals who questioned Vatican employees about the leaks.

    Pope Benedict: 'Sadness in my heart' over butler leak scandal

    A summary of the inquiry's results released in August showed Gabriele acted because he saw "evil and corruption everywhere in the Church," and felt the pope was not sufficiently informed.

    But chief judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre said the commission of cardinals answered only to the pope and that the inquiry had "no relevance" to Vatican City's penal code.

    Only evidence gathered by a prosecutor and the Vatican police will be allowed.

    Facing charges of aggravated theft, the man who helped the pope dress and rode in the front seat of the Popemobile could now face up to four years in an Italian prison.

    Another man, Vatican computer expert Claudio Sciarpelletti is on trial separately for aiding Gabriele.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Trial of pope's former butler over leaked papers gets under way

    Vincenzo Pinto/AFP - Getty Images

    This file picture taken on Oct. 10, 2006 shows Pope Benedict XVI with his then butler Paolo Gabriele (right) in St Peter's Square, Rome.

    By Claudio Lavanga, NBC News

    VATICAN CITY - One of the most sensational trials to be held in the Vatican for centuries got under way Saturday with Benedict XVI’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, standing accused of leaking confidential documents from the pope’s apartments to the media.


    Some of the documents suggested the existence of a web of corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts for the maintenance of the Vatican estate. Others showed signs of widespread infighting among cardinals. 

    Gabriele could be given a sentence of up to four years in prison if found guilty of “aggravated theft.”  

    The Vatican State does not actually have a prison -- only security cells for temporary confinement. But, according to a 1929 agreement with “neighboring” Italy, anyone sentenced in the Vatican will serve their time there.

    Vatican says the 'butler did it,' orders trial

    The public trial is taking place in the Vatican’s tribunal, a small courtroom in a 19th century building in Piazza San Marta.

    Gabiele was in the courtroom Saturday, dressed in a gray suit. Journalists in the small pool allowed in the room said he looked tense but laughed with his lawyer at one stage. He did not betray any other emotions.

    The judges said it would be a short trial, and could be over in as little as four hearings, meaning that a verdict could be reached by the end of next week.

    At the hearing, which only lasted two hours, it emerged the documents and IT material seized from the butler's house filled 82 boxes, though this does not mean all of it was confidential. 

    “Vatileaks,” as the case has become known, is expected to be the biggest trial held by world’s smallest state for centuries.

    “Vatican judges usually have to deal with a maximum of 30 crimes per year,” Professor Giovanni Giacobbe, a Vatican legal expert, told journalists Thursday. “Mostly petty crimes like pickpocketing that are dealt with within a day.”

    Pope Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, has been arrested for stealing confidential documents and leaking papal secrets. The Vatican says this is "the beginning of a large investigation." NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

    The biggest crime to emerge from St. Peter’s Square in recent memory -- the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981 -- was tried in an Italian court, while the 1998 killing of a Swiss Guard commander and his wife never went to trial as the Swiss Guard who pulled the trigger turned the gun on himself.

    The Vatican’s penal law is based on an Italian code, which dates back to 1889.

    Unlike in the United States and other countries, a defendant here is not required to enter a plea, “like they do in Perry Mason,” Giacobbe joked.

    Pope Benedict: 'Sadness in my heart' over butler leak scandal

    Defendants are also not asked to take an oath before testifying.

    Gabriele, a 46-year-old father of three, has already admitted his role in the conspiracy, and may now pray his confession will lead to a reduced sentence or even a papal pardon.

    He was one of the very few people to have access to the pope’s private chambers and was caught red-handed when a stash of secret documents was found in his apartment, along with a cheque of $130,000, a rare 16th century edition of the Aeneid and a gold nugget, all presents sent to the Pope.

    He was held for 53 days in a Vatican cell before being put under house arrest.

    Gabriele confessed and claimed “he felt like an agent of the Holy Spirit,” seeking to expose and root out the "evil and corruption" in the Catholic church. 

     

     

     

  • Pope Benedict: 'Sadness in my heart' over butler leak scandal

    Pope Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, has been arrested for stealing confidential documents and leaking papal secrets. The Vatican says this is "the beginning of a large investigation." NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

    By msnbc.com news services

    VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI broke his silence Wednesday over the leaked documents scandal that has convulsed the Vatican, saying he was saddened by the betrayal but grateful to those aides who work faithfully and in silence to help him do his job.

    Benedict made his first direct comments on the scandal in off-the-cuff remarks at the end of his weekly general audience. He lashed out at some of the media reports about the scandal, saying the "exaggerated" and "gratuitous" rumors had offered a false image of the Holy See.

    The Italian media have been in a frenzy ever since the pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested last week after Vatican investigators discovered papal documents in his Vatican City apartment. He remains in detention and has pledged to cooperate fully with the investigation.


    Rumors have been flying in the Italian press about possible cardinals implicated in the probe, pending resignations and details of the investigation that even Gabriele's lawyers say they haven't heard. The Vatican spokesman has spent much of his daily briefings in recent days shooting down the various reports.

    The scandal represents one of the greatest breaches of trust and security for the Holy See in recent memory given that a significant number of documents from the pope's own desk were leaked to an investigative journalist. The Vatican has denounced the leaks as criminal and immoral and has opened a three-pronged investigation to get to the bottom of who was responsible.

    'Spirit of sacrifice'
    "The events of recent days about the Curia and my collaborators have brought sadness in my heart," Benedict said at the end of his audience. But he added: "I want to renew my trust in and encouragement of my closest collaborators and all those who every day, with loyalty and a spirit of sacrifice and in silence, help me fulfill my ministry."

    Few people think Gabriele worked alone, and his promise to cooperate with the investigation has fueled speculation that other might be arrested soon.

    The motivations for the leaks remain unclear: Some commentators say they appear designed to discredit Benedict's No. 2, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. Others say they're aimed at undermining the Vatican's efforts to become more financially transparent. Still others say they aim to show the 85-year-old Benedict's weakness in running the church.

    Gabriele is an employee of the Holy See, a citizen and resident of the Vatican city state. He is being held by Vatican police who have accused him of stealing the pope's personal papers.

    The scandal broke in January when Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi revealed letters from a former top Vatican administrator who begged the pope not to transfer him for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions of euros (dollars) in higher contract prices. The prelate, Monsignor Carlo Maria Vigano, is now the Vatican's U.S. ambassador.

    Documents leaked to journalists over several months allege corruption in the Church's vast financial dealings with Italian business including infrastructure contracts awarded at inflated prices.

    In one example, the Vatican was said to have paid $550,000 for a traditional nativity scene in St Peter's Square, thought to be at least double its real value. 

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