VATICAN CITY // The Vatican tribunal that convicted the pope's former butler of stealing private papal correspondence sharply condemned the theft yesterday, saying it harmed the pope, the Holy See and the entire Roman Catholic Church.
The three-judge tribunal issued its written explanation of how it reached its October 6 ruling against Paolo Gabriele, who was convicted of aggravated theft and sentenced to 18 months, currently being served under house arrest.
Gabriele confessed to photo-copying papal documents and giving them to an Italian journalist, saying Pope Benedict XVI was not being informed of the "evil and corruption" around him and that he believed exposing the problems publicly would put the church back on the right track.
The revelations of petty bureaucratic infighting, intrigue and allegations of corruption and homosexual liaisons marked the biggest Vatican security breach in modern times.
Noting what they called Gabriele's "simplistic" intellectual capacity, the judges acknowledged that Gabriele thought he was doing the right thing by leaking the documents. But they said his theft damaged the pope and the rights of the Holy See, the Vatican City state and the entire church.
"In particular, Gabriele's actions violated not just the fundamental right to a good name and reserve owed all involved, but also the secrecy of actions owed to a sovereign," the judges wrote.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev Federico Lombardi, said prosecutors have a few more days to decide whether or not to appeal the sentence. Gabriele's attorney has already decided not to appeal.
Once the deadline passes, Gabriele will begin serving his sentence. Previously the Vatican had said he would serve it in an Italian prison, given the Vatican does not have a long-term detention facility. But the Rev Lombardi said yesterday he would serve it in the Vatican, where he spent the first two months of detention after his May 23 arrest.
Pope Benedict could still pardon Gabriele. The Vatican had said a pardon was "concrete, likely" - though yesterday the Rev Lombardi only said it was "a possibility" and that no timeline was possible.
He said yesterday his choice of words was intentional.
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
