Vatileaks: Judges note “reprehensible” damage of Gabriele’s theft
(Vatican Radio) On Tuesday, the Vatican Court published a lengthy document outlining
how it arrived at its October 6th verdict in the Vatileaks trial against
former Papal butler, Paolo Gabriele. The text, in Italian, confirms the sentence
of 18 months prison for Gabriele and payment of trial costs and notes the “reprehensible”
damage that his theft caused both the Holy Father and the Church. Gabriele is currently
serving his sentence under house arrest. It was also announced that the second act
in investigations, the trial against Carlo Sciarpeletti an IT expert at the Secretary
of State for aiding and abetting Gabriele, will open November 5th. Emer
McCarthy reports:
Briefing
journalists Tuesday, Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. noted
that they focused on the offence of stealing documents, and in particular the originals
of documents, and took no account of other objects such as a nugget of gold, a cheque
in the Holy Father's name and a sixteenth-century copy of "The Aeneid", because there
were doubts about the way in which the search during which they were found had been
carried out, and Gabriele's guilt was not proven.
Fr. Lombardi also explained
that a psychiatric examination had excluded the possibility that the accused might
have had some mental condition which had made him unaware of his responsibility for
his actions. The Tribunal had also, he said, been careful to define the juridical
terms of the offence of theft; i.e., the removal and appropriation of an object without
the consent of its owner with the intent of obtaining some benefit. Thus the offence
involved was theft and not embezzlement, although the sentence notes that the benefit
Gabriele sought to gain was not economic in nature, but intellectual and moral.
Another
question that arose was whether Gabriele had acted at the "suggestion" of a third
party; a term that had been interpreted to include complicity or influence. The accused
himself affirmed that the word did not mean collaboration with other people, but the
influence of the surrounding environment which had led him to the conviction that
he was acting for the good of the Holy Father and the Church.
The Holy See
Press Office Director noted that the aggravating circumstances lay in the fact that
the theft had involved abuse of trust and the publication of reserved documents, while
the attenuating circumstances were the absence of a criminal record and Gabriele's
own moral conviction.
On the subject of the punishment, Fr. Lombardi pointed
out that the Tribunal had based its sentence on the penalties established for such
offences in the Criminal Code. The promoter of justice had requested that Gabriele
be given a lifetime ban on holding public office but, as the final sentence was of
eighteen months, the Penal Code contains no provision for such a measure and the ban
on public office was thus of limited duration. Nonetheless, in view of the gravity
of the offence, it had been decided not to suspend the sentence conditionally.
Finally
the director of the Holy See Press Office announced that Paolo Gabriele currently
remains under house arrest, because until the publication of the full text of the
sentence the promoter of justice before the Tribunal of Vatican City State, Giovanni
Giacobbe, was unable to file an appeal.
If he did not now do so within the
set deadline the sentence would be put into effect. In this case the accused would
have to serve his term in prison inside the Vatican, because there was no relevant
convention with the Italian State. The possibility remains, however, that the Holy
Father will pardon Gabriele although, since it would be a personal decision, it is
not clear if and when he will do so.