Pope’s butler scandal widens

Servant to Benedict arrested after found with Vatican papers.

VATICAN CITY — One of the Vatican’s biggest scandals in decades widened Monday with the pope’s butler — arrested for allegedly having confidential documents in his home — agreeing to cooperate with investigators, his lawyer said Monday.

Paolo Gabriele’s pledge to cooperate with Vatican magistrates raises the specter that high-ranking prelates may be named in the investigation into leaks of confidential Vatican correspondence that have shed a light on power struggles and intrigue inside the highest levels of the Catholic Church.

Italian media reported Monday that a cardinal is suspected of a major role in the “Vatileaks” scandal. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said many Vatican officials were being questioned but insisted “there is no cardinal under suspicion.”

He also dismissed as “pure fantasy” a rash of other unsourced reports. The Italian media have been on a frenzy ever since reports of Gabriele’s detention emerged Friday.

Gabriele, the pope’s personal butler since 2006, was arrested Wednesday evening after documents he had no business possessing were found in his Vatican City apartment. He remains in custody.

Gabriele’s lawyer Carlo Fusco said his client would “respond to all the questions and will collaborate with investigators to ascertain the truth.”

The 46-year-old father of three was considered extremely loyal to Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, for whom he briefly served. Vatican insiders said they were baffled by his alleged involvement in the scandal. Fusco reported Monday that Gabriele was “very serene and calm.”

Gabriele is the only one who has been arrested, but Lombardi stressed that the investigation was continuing.

“Vatileaks” began in January when journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi broadcast letters from the former No. 2 Vatican administrator to the pope begging not to be transferred for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions of euros in higher contract prices. The prelate, Monsignor Carlo Maria Vigano, is now the Vatican’s U.S. ambassador.

The scandal widened with documents leaked that laid bare clear power struggles over the Vatican’s efforts to show greater financial transparency.