Pope’s butler and 2nd Vatican lay worker face trial in theft of documents from papal apartment

VATICAN CITY – A Vatican judge has ordered the pope’s butler and a fellow lay employee to stand trial in the scandal of pilfered documents from Pope Benedict XVI’s private apartment.

The indictment Monday accused Paolo Gabriele, the butler under arrest since May at the Vatican, of grand theft.

While the Vatican had insisted throughout the investigation that Gabriele was the only person under investigation, the indictment also orders trial for Claudio Sciarpelletti. He is a layman in the Secretariat of State office and is charged with aiding and abetting Gabriele.

The scandal embarrassed the Vatican, exposing infighting at high church levels, primarily involving Italian prelates.

The Vatican has promised a public trial. No date was immediately announced.

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