(October 12, 2012) Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict XVI's former butler who leaked confidential
papal documents to a journalist, believes his sentence of 18 months under house arrest
is fair and will not appeal it, his lawyer said on Thursday. Cristiana Arru told Reuters
that Gabriele wanted the sentence, handed down last Saturday when he was convicted
of aggravated theft, to stand because he thought it was reasonable. "Paolo had decided
from the start decided that he wanted to pay the consequences for his actions. If
we appealed, it would mean the opposite," she said. The prosecution had asked for
a three-year sentence but the court gave him half that because he had no previous
criminal record. Gabriele will be serving the sentence under house arrest in the
apartment in the Vatican where he lives with his family. The Pope, who is the head
of Vatican City, is widely expected to pardon Gabriele, meaning he will be released
from detention. Gabriele is expected to continue working in the Vatican but in offices
that deal with " judicial, administrative or legal” affairs. Gabriele said during
the trial that he did not consider himself a thief but leaked documents that alleged
corruption in the Vatican out of what he called a "visceral" love for the Church and
the Pope.