More than the Synod on the New Evangelisation which will open a week later and will run from 7 to 28 October. The trial could be postponed temporarily if it has not ended by the time the Synod gets underway.
Benedict XVI, the three members of the Commission of Cardinals investigating the Vatileaks scandal (Julián Herranz, Salvatore de Giorgi and Josef Tomko), the Promoter of Justice Nicola Piccardi, the Examining Magistrate, Piero Antonio Bonnet and General Domenico Giani who is leading the investigation met last 26 July to decide on Gabriele and accomplice Paolo Sciarpelletti’s sentences.
They decided that Gabriele is only to be tried for aggravated theft and Secretary of State computer technician, Sciarpelletti, for aiding and abetting a crime.
Meanwhile, other more serious crimes - such as the breach of State security and the potential network of links and conspiracies that made Vatileaks possible – are the subject of an sensitive ongoing investigation.
The trial which starts Saturday could be brief given the wealth of proven evidence, the truth of which the defendant himself has confessed to. The duration of the trial will depend on the strategies used by the defence lawyers and by how many and which witnesses will be called to testify: their names are listed alphabetically in the committal for trial ruling but will be made public if they repeat their testimonies at the trial.
The common opinion both inside and outside the Vatican is that the Vatileaks scandal does not end with the Pope’s former butler. On Sunday 15 July, Paul Badde, a journalist who is highly esteemed in the papal apartment, wrote an article for German newspaper Die Welt which suggested that the butler’s actions were inspired in some way by Ratzinger’s former housekeeper, Professor Ingrid Stampa, who works in the Secretariat of State and edits the Pope’s books; by the Pope’s former secretary, Josef Clemens and by Cardinal Paolo Sardi. Die Welt claimed Vatileaks was born out of the climate of tensions and misunderstandings between these figures and the Pope’s personal secretary, Fr. Georg Gäenswein.
The Vatican only denied the shocking news about the involvement of the three, when Italian newspaper La Repubblica re-launched the Die Welt story. Still, some figures who are closer to the Pope stressed that Bishop Clemens and Professor Stampa’s access to the papal apartment has been restricted.
During the trial, Paolo Gabriele will be represented by just one of the two lawyers who had originally taken on his defence, Cristiana Arrù. The other lawyer, Carlo Fusco abandoned his role because of differences in defence strategy. Some of the inquiry documents are being kept confidential and even the defence does not have access to them. These are probably to do with the crimes that are still being investigated.
The President of the Vatican Tribunal who will try Gabriele and Sciarpelletti (whose case is far less serious and the charges against him are mainly due to the different versions of the facts given to investigators during initial interrogations), Giuseppe Dalla Torre is a distinguished jurist and highly esteemed both in and outside the Vatican. The two other judges who will be present at the trial are Paolo Papanti Pellettier and deputy judge Venerando Marano. Gabriele risks being sentenced from 1 to 8 years in prison. Various commentators have said Benedict XVI could grant a pardon to his former butler when the trial and inquiry are over.
The Pope has been hurt by an affair which has involved a member of the papal household whom he saw “as a son”, a man who had rarely left his side since 2006. “Why did he do it?” the Pope has often wondered, asking himself how it was possible “for evil to infiltrate between us.”
The trial will be open to the public and a total of eight journalists some fixed, some in rotation will be allowed in the courtroom but will not be able to take photos or use voice recorders. Given the evidence against him and the fact he has confessed, Gabriele’s trial looks to be brief and it is likely he will be declared guilty. The results of the work carried out by the Commission of Cardinals will remain confidential for now. Their investigations are not only focused on Gabriele but include testimonies from a number of Vatican employees which paint a picture of the atmosphere in the Holy See over the past two years.
Although attention has been focused on the motive for the document leak, there are still some questions which remain unanswered regarding the facts and events mentioned in the letters that ended up in Nuzzi’s book. Starting with Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and his condemnation of corruption in the Vatican, the attempt to purchase San Raffaele hospital in Milan and the dismissal of Vatican Bank president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi.
Another question which remains in the background is the succession of the Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, who is about to turn 78 and is considered one of the main targets of the Vatileaks scandal. He himself stated, he feels he is “right in the middle of the scrum.” Despite this, the Pope renewed his trust in Bertone on 4 July.