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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Pope pardons former butler over stolen personal papers | Pope pardons former butler over stolen personal papers |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| The pope visited his former butler in prison on Saturday and pardoned him for stealing his private papers. | The pope visited his former butler in prison on Saturday and pardoned him for stealing his private papers. |
| After the 15-minute meeting, Paolo Gabriele was freed and returned to his Vatican City apartment where he lives with his wife and three children. | After the 15-minute meeting, Paolo Gabriele was freed and returned to his Vatican City apartment where he lives with his wife and three children. |
| The Vatican said he couldn't continue living or working there, but said it would find him housing and a job elsewhere soon. | The Vatican said he couldn't continue living or working there, but said it would find him housing and a job elsewhere soon. |
| Pope Benedict XVI's pardon closes an embarrassing scandal for the Vatican which featured allegations of power struggles, intrigue, corruption and gay liaisons at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic church. | Pope Benedict XVI's pardon closes an embarrassing scandal for the Vatican which featured allegations of power struggles, intrigue, corruption and gay liaisons at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic church. |
| "This is a paternal gesture toward someone with whom the pope for many years shared daily life," according to a statement from the Vatican secretariat of state. | "This is a paternal gesture toward someone with whom the pope for many years shared daily life," according to a statement from the Vatican secretariat of state. |
| Gabriele, 46, was arrested in May after Vatican police found what they called an enormous stash of papal documents at his home. | Gabriele, 46, was arrested in May after Vatican police found what they called an enormous stash of papal documents at his home. |
| He was convicted of aggravated theft by a Vatican court in October and has been serving his 18-month sentence in the Vatican police barracks. | He was convicted of aggravated theft by a Vatican court in October and has been serving his 18-month sentence in the Vatican police barracks. |
| He told investigators he gave the documents to the journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi because he thought the 85-year-old pope wasn't being informed of the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican and thought that exposing it publicly would put the church back on the right track. | He told investigators he gave the documents to the journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi because he thought the 85-year-old pope wasn't being informed of the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican and thought that exposing it publicly would put the church back on the right track. |
| The leaked documents were first aired on Italian television then published in Nuzzi's book, His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI's Secret Papers. | The leaked documents were first aired on Italian television then published in Nuzzi's book, His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI's Secret Papers. |
| The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said the meeting was "intense" and "personal" and said that during it Benedict "communicated to him in person that he had accepted his request for pardon, commuting his sentence". | The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said the meeting was "intense" and "personal" and said that during it Benedict "communicated to him in person that he had accepted his request for pardon, commuting his sentence". |
| The documents did not threaten the papacy directly and most appeared to discredit Benedict's trusted No 2, the secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. | The documents did not threaten the papacy directly and most appeared to discredit Benedict's trusted No 2, the secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. |
| Gabriele insisted he acted alone but a Vatican computer expert, Claudio Sciarpelletti, was convicted in November of aiding and abetting Gabriele by changing his testimony to investigators about the origins of an envelope with Gabriele's name on it that was found in his desk. | Gabriele insisted he acted alone but a Vatican computer expert, Claudio Sciarpelletti, was convicted in November of aiding and abetting Gabriele by changing his testimony to investigators about the origins of an envelope with Gabriele's name on it that was found in his desk. |
| As supreme executive, legislator and judge in Vatican City, the pope had the power to pardon Gabriele even before he went to trial. | As supreme executive, legislator and judge in Vatican City, the pope had the power to pardon Gabriele even before he went to trial. |
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