Vatican confirms pope's butler arrested in leaks scandal

**Team Sergeant** · 05-26-2012, 14:47

"Secret" Vatican documents? Seriously, secret? Since when does a "church" hold secret documents? Where are those folks from Anonymous when you need them?

Note to sheeple, if your church is holding "secret" documents, find yourself another religion.......

Vatican confirms pope's butler arrested in leaks scandal
Published May 26, 2012
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican confirmed Saturday that the pope's butler had been arrested in its embarrassing leaks scandal, adding a Hollywood twist to a sordid tale of power struggles, intrigue and corruption in the highest levels of Catholic Church governance.

Paolo Gabriele, a layman who lives inside Vatican City, was arrested Wednesday with secret documents in his possession and was being held Saturday, the Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement.

Gabriele is often seen by Pope Benedict XVI's side in public, riding in the front seat of his open-air jeep during Wednesday general audiences or shielding the pontiff from the rain. He has been the pope's personal butler since 2006, one of the few members of the small papal household that also includes the pontiff's private secretaries and four consecrated women who care for the papal apartment.

continued:

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05...#ixzz1w0iz5yCw

The Vatican has taken the leaks very seriously, with Benedict appointing a commission of cardinals to investigate. Vatican gendarmes as well as prosecutors are also investigating the sources of the leaks.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05...#ixzz1w0iz5yCw

MR2 · 05-26-2012, 15:45

So the butler did it...

ZonieDiver · 05-26-2012, 20:17

In regard to secrets, the Catholic Church makes the CIA look like amateurs. Oh, wait, the CIA doesn't need ANY help for that.

tcb09d · 05-27-2012, 07:27

I don't understand whats wrong with having secret documents... Sometimes it's the nature of the documents and sometimes it's simply who the info was gathered from.

There may be something like where the Vatican believes a saint's body is located. It would be in the church's best interest to hide that information until it was confirmed so gravediggers and such won't steal the corpse. There could be a myriad of things like that.

Obviously I'm a Catholic but it makes sense to me and doesn't bother me...

ZonieDiver · 05-27-2012, 08:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcb09d

I don't understand whats wrong with having secret documents... Sometimes it's the nature of the documents and sometimes it's simply who the info was gathered from.

There may be something like where the Vatican believes a saint's body is located. It would be in the church's best interest to hide that information until it was confirmed so gravediggers and such won't steal the corpse. There could be a myriad of things like that.

Obviously I'm a Catholic but it makes sense to me and doesn't bother me...

I somehow doubt that the nature of the 'secret' documents deal with what you've mentioned. I can think of other topics that are much more likely to be the subjects.

And, no, I'm not Catholic.

scooter · 05-27-2012, 08:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR2

So the butler did it...

...In the library....

WarPhil · 05-27-2012, 08:44

...with a USB drive.

On the Vatican news site (www.news.va/en) they call the documents "confidential," only the major news outlets call the documents "secret." From what I have heard elsewhere it is just personal emails in which high level officials complain about getting passed over for promotions, not like that happens anywhere else right?

Imagine you email your buddy complaining about Sgt. Incompetent, who only got the promotion because they know paperwork better than the friendly end of their weapon, and some tech guy pulls that email off the server and sends it to your commander. What would you want to do to that tech guy?

Sdiver · 05-27-2012, 09:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR2

So the butler did it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by scooter

...In the library....

..... with a crosier .....

Sdiver · 05-27-2012, 09:07

Or .....

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR2

So the butler did it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by scooter

...In the library....

.... with an Alter Boy ....

Hey, this thread is talking about "secrets" in the Catholic Church, isn't it.

**Peregrino** · 05-27-2012, 09:26

I fail to understand why anyone is shocked. In fact - I'm annoyed by all the "how could they" comments. Power corrupts. This is all about power politics (and control of the money that buys it). The butler either: suffered an attack of moral outrage at the excesses; has a personal grudge against the Cardinal; or is the sacrificial token to get things swept back under the rug. In any event, whoever played the pawn misjudged the strength or moral character of his patron. The Catholic church has been on this road for two millenia. Given the current instability of the Euro, I'll be really surprised if somebody doesn't consider re-instituting Borgia style politics to advance the Church's position/protect its interests. (Or maybe this was an opening salvo in that campaign.) And yes - I was raised Catholic.

**Team Sergeant** · 05-27-2012, 09:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peregrino

I fail to understand why anyone is shocked. In fact - I'm annoyed by all the "how could they" comments. Power corrupts. This is all about power politics (and control of the money that buys it). The butler either: suffered an attack of moral outrage at the excesses; has a personal grudge against the Cardinal; or is the sacrificial token to get things swept back under the rug. In any event, whoever played the pawn misjudged the strength or moral character of his patron. The Catholic church has been on this road for two millenia. Given the current instability of the Euro, I'll be really surprised if somebody doesn't consider re-instituting Borgia style politics to advance the Church's position/protect its interests. (Or maybe this was an opening salvo in that campaign.) And yes - I was raised Catholic.

What I find amazing is that this case is deemed a "criminal" case against the butler for taking "secret church" documents.

I agree with you, after Greece leaves the Euro three more are on the jump list, Portugal, Spain and Italy. The next three weeks might determine the course of the European Union for the next 10 years. I'm sure the church is prepared.

scooter · 05-27-2012, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

What I find amazing is that this case is deemed a "criminal" case against the butler for taking "secret church" documents

The Vatican is an actual sovereign state, ruled by an absolute monarch with full sovereign rights.

The church could burn him at the stake (literally) on CNN, and if it was in accordance with church law there isn't anything anyone else could do to stop it.

Neat.

MR2 · 05-27-2012, 12:15

Quote:

So the butler did it... in the library... with a crosier... and with an Alter Boy...

secretly...

greenberetTFS · 05-27-2012, 12:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZonieDiver

I somehow doubt that the nature of the 'secret' documents deal with what you've mentioned. I can think of other topics that are much more likely to be the subjects.

And, no, I'm not Catholic.

Neither am I anymore..... What possible documents could they be so concerned about except maybe the Gospels of Thomas or that of Judas as being accepted as true and they didn't want that going out ?........

Big Teddy

Sdiver · 05-27-2012, 13:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenberetTFS

Neither am I anymore..... What possible documents could they be so concerned about except maybe the Gospels of Thomas or that of Judas as being accepted as true and they didn't want that going out ?........

Big Teddy

That, and Dan Brown (and before him, Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln) could be right.