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Pope Benedict’s former butler has claimed that he passed on private documents and letters to journalists in a bid to stop ‘evil and corruption’ within the Church following his arrest on charges of theft. Paolo Gabriele, personal assistant to Pope Benedict XVI, was charged with aggravated theft after police found confidential documents at his flat in Vatican and arrested him in May. He was arrested as part of an investigation over the leak of documents alleging corruption in Vatican ’s business dealings, The Daily Mail reports. Gabriele admitted to police that for some time he had met with a journalist and gave him sensitive papers, including letters to the Pope. He told officers during the investigation that he never received any payment for the documents, but felt he was acting for the good of the Church and as an agent of the Holy Spirit. “I saw evil and corruption everywhere in the Church,” the Daily Mail quoted Gabriele as saying in his testimony, explaining how he felt the pope was not sufficiently informed of such matters. If convicted, the 46-year-old could face up to six years in jail. Currently, Gabriele has been living under house arrest in his Vatican flat.

Pope’s butler claims leaking Vatican documents was to combat corruption in Church