Pope’s butler held as mole in Vatican scandal twist

The detention of Paolo Gabriele, 46, one of the few members of the papal household, capped one of the most convulsive weeks in recent Vatican history as it enters a critical phase in its efforts to show the world it is serious about complying with international norms on financial transparency.

The tumult began with the publication last weekend of a book of leaked Vatican documents detailing power struggles, political intrigue and corruption in the highest levels of Catholic Church governance.

It peaked with the inglorious ousting on Thursday of the president of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, and concluded with confirmation on Saturday that Pope Benedict XVI’s butler was the alleged mole, feeding documents to Italian journalists in an apparent bid to discredit the pontiff’s second-in-command.

The bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works, issued a scathing denunciation of Mr Gotti Tedeschi in a memorandum, saying he routinely missed board meetings, failed to do his job or defend the bank, polarised its staff and displayed “progressively erratic personal behaviour”.

Mr Gotti Tedeschi was also accused by the board of leaking documents himself.