Off camera the Pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele shouted: "I do not feel I am a thief." (Remember when Nixon said "I am not a crook"? I know.)
Presiding Judge Guiseppe Dalla Torre handed down a sentence of three years, then cut it to 18 months citing Gabriele's lack of a criminal record, his apology to the Pope and past services rendered to the Church. The former butler will also have to pay court costs out of his own pocket.Questions regarding the butler's psychological state which were raised in the trial remained unanswered however.
Gabriele has now been returned to house arrest inside his Vatican apartment, where he has already been confined for several months. The verdict brings to an end a week-long trial that has revealed an embarrassing breach of security at the highest levels of the Vatican. - BBCNews
Bishop Francesco Cavina, who knew Gabriele in the Vatican, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Wednesday that the butler, a father-of-three, may have a "disturbed mind" and "a split personality". - SourceThat could be Spirit-of-Vatican-II-speak for "Was Pablo Gabrielle a Malachi Martin, conspiracy theory loving, crazed traditionalist?"
Color me not surprised. Scapegoats are useful.
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