Vatican a victim of blackmail - official
2012-06-06 20:50
Vatican City - The Vatican is being subjected to "blackmail", a
spokesperson said on Wednesday, as Pope Benedict XVI's butler was questioned
for a second day on charges of stealing confidential papal papers.
Father Federico Lombardi was reacting to an anonymous letter published by
the La Repubblica daily earlier this week which called for the resignation of
two top Vatican officials and said the butler was only "a scapegoat".
"It is a serious threat. I think the word 'blackmail' would be a way of
defining it," Lombardi told reporters at a special briefing on a scandal
over leaks of sensitive documents that has gripped the Vatican for months.
The author of the letter had threatened to make public more documents unless
Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and the pope's secretary Georg
Gaenswein resigned, and accused them of being responsible for the scandal.
Prison
The pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele, 46, risks up to six years in prison for
stealing documents found in his home and is being held in the Vatican.
His alleged crime is as yet unexplained and some Vatican watchers say he is
only a small part of a broader plot at the heart of the Catholic Church.
Gabriele, who was arrested on May 23, had a first round of questioning on
Tuesday in the presence of a judge, his defence and the Vatican prosecutor.
Documents allegedly stolen by Gabriele, including sensitive memos about the
Catholic Church's handling of child abuse scandals and of accusations of money
laundering, have been published by Italian newspapers and in a book.
Several Vatican watchers say the leaks are aimed at undermining Bertone, a
powerful and divisive figure who is the Vatican's second in command.
- SAPA
