Pope’s butler goes on trial in ‘Vatileaks’ case

The pope's once-trusted butler Paolo Gabriele went on trial today for allegedly stealing papal documents and passing them off to a journalist in the worst security breach of the Vatican's recent history.

Gabriele is accused of using his access to Pope Benedict XVI to steal papers that he apparently thought would expose Vatican corruption, but the miscalculated move seems to have backfired badly. Gabriele suffered a blow on the first day of his trial when judges refused to admit evidence from the Church's own investigation.

Gabriele is charged with aggravated theft in a case that has embarrassed the Vatican and may shed some light on the discreet internal workings of the papal household.

Gabriele's arrest in May, after police found confidential documents in his apartment inside the Vatican, not only threw a spotlight on allegations of malpractice but also pointed to a power struggle at the highest levels of the Church.

The 46-year-old Gabriele looked pale at his first public appearance since May, smiling as he chatted with his lawyer but often staring straight into space during a hearing that lasted just under two-and-a-half hours.

The three-judge tribunal threw out some evidence gathered during the investigation during its very first hearing of the case. It also decided to separate Gabriele's trial from that of his co-defendant, a computer expert charged with aiding and abetting the crime.