Vatican City, Jul 23, 2012 / 12:42 pm
The Vatican is denying newspaper claims that three officials close to Pope Benedict XVI were found complicit in the recent leaking of sensitive papal information to the media.
"The Secretariat of State expresses its firm and total disapproval of those publications, which are not based on objective criteria and seriously damage the honor of the people concerned, who have served the Holy Father faithfully for many years," said a statement issued by the Vatican's Secretariat of State on July 23.
The allegations were printed in the July 23 edition of the Italian daily newspaper "La Repubblica" after they appeared in the online edition of German newspaper "Die Welt" last week.
Both articles claimed that the role of three senior Vatican officials in the so-called "Vatileaks" scandal was uncovered by an investigative Commission of Cardinals, led by the Spanish Cardinal Julian Herranz.