Vatican City, Oct 2, 2012 / 10:48 am
Despite his confession to Vatican police, papal butler Paolo Gabriele has said he is innocent of stealing Pope Benedict XVI's private correspondence but he feels "guilty of having betrayed the trust of the Holy Father."
"I declare myself innocent concerning the charge of aggravated theft," he said at the Oct. 2 hearing at the Vatican City courthouse behind St. Peter's Basilica.
Gabriele, a 46-year-old Italian father of three, worked in the Papal Household under both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. He was one of very few individuals who had daily access to the Pope and said he loved him "as a son would."
In May, Vatican prosecutors charged him with the aggravated theft of documents, including private papal correspondence. His arrest followed several months of "Vatileaks" in which the Italian media reported on numerous sensitive internal Vatican papers.