Who, What, Why: What's It Like to Be a Prisoner of the Vatican?

BBC: Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict's former butler, begins an 18-month prison sentence today inside the Vatican walls, after being found guilty by a Vatican City court of stealing sensitive documents from the Pope's desk. What will life be like for the only prisoner inside the world's smallest sovereign state?

The Pope's former butler is being treated "leniently and justly" according to Vatican authorities, and may even benefit from a papal pardon before the end of his prison term, if he shows repentance and apologises to Pope Benedict and all the other people who work for the Holy See for the scandal he caused.

But for the moment he has exchanged his modest "grace and favour" three-bedroom apartment just inside the walls of the Vatican for a sparsely furnished detention room inside the headquarters of the Pope's private police force, the Vatican Gendarmerie.

Not only has he been sacked, but he now risks losing his home as well, situated almost next door to his former workplace, the Papal apartments on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace.

Vatican City has a railway station - with only one train a week bringing in bonded duty-free goods, a Post Office, a radio station, a pharmacy, a supermarket, a fire brigade, a five-star hotel, and one of the world's most visited museums, but it has no prison - and no dungeons. » | David Willey, BBC News, Rome | Friday, October 26, 2012

Pope’s Butler Convicted, Gets 18-month Sentence
CBS NEWS: VATICAN CITY | The pope's butler was convicted Saturday of stealing the pontiff's private documents and leaking them to a journalist, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre read the verdict aloud two hours after the three-judge panel began deliberating Paolo Gabriele's fate.

The sentence was reduced to 18 months from three years because of a series of mitigating circumstances, including that Gabriele had no previous record, had worked for years for the Holy See, acknowledged that he had betrayed the pope and was convinced, "albeit erroneously." that he was doing the right thing, Dalla Torre said.

Gabriele was accused of stealing the pope's private correspondence and passing it on to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, whose book revealed the intrigue, petty infighting and allegations of corruption and homosexual liaisons that plague the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

In his final appeal to the court Saturday morning, Gabriele insisted, "I don't feel like a thief," and said he leaked the pope's private correspondence out of a "visceral love" for the church and the pope.

He has said he felt the pope wasn't being informed of the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican, and that exposing the problems would put the church back on the right track. » | CBS/AP | Saturday, October 06, 2012

'Vatileaks' Scandal Widens as Pope's Butler Vows to Help Investigators

THE GUARDIAN: Paolo Gabriele says he will co-operate over confidential documents allegedly found at his home

One of the Vatican's biggest scandals in decades has widened, with the pope's butler agreeing to co-operate with investigators over confidential documents allegedly found at his home, according to his lawyer.

Paolo Gabriele's pledge to co-operate with Vatican magistrates means high-ranking prelates could soon be named in the investigation into leaks of confidential Vatican correspondence that have shed a light on power struggles and intrigue at the highest levels of the Catholic church.

Italian media report that a cardinal is suspected of playing a major role in the "Vatileaks" scandal. However, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev Federico Lombardi, denied the reports. He said many Vatican officials were being questioned in the investigation but insisted: "There is no cardinal under suspicion."

He also dismissed as "pure fantasy" a rash of other un[-]sourced reports about the investigation in the Italian media, which have been in a frenzy ever since reports of Gabriele's detention emerged last Friday. » | Associated Press | Monday, May 28, 2012

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