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‘Vatileaks’ butler wanted to help the pope -lawyer

* Butler is expected to ask for a papal pardon

* He is freed from detention, put under house arrest

* His trial is unlikely to start before September

(Adds more quotes, background)

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, July 21 (Reuters) – Paolo Gabriele, the papal

butler held on suspicion of leaking documents alleging

corruption in the Vatican, was driven by a desire to help the

pope, his lawyer said on Saturday, adding that his ultimate aim

may have been to clean up the Church.

The lawyer, Carlo Fusco, told a news conference that

Gabriele had acted alone in the so-called “Vatileaks” scandal

and was not part of any wider plot, saying he expected a Vatican

magistrate to order a trial for him soon.

The 46-year-old butler’s arrest on May 23 caused an

international furore afer police found confidential documents in

his apartment inside the Vatican, a dramatic twist that threw

the global media spotlight on an institution battling to defend

its reputation from allegations of graft.

“The motivations that prompted him to do certain things are

all of an interior nature. There were no external motives,”

Fusco said after assisting Gabriele in an interrogation that

lasted seven hours.

Asked by a reporter if Gabriele’s motive could have been to

“help the pope clean up the Church”, Fusco said: “That would be

one way of interpreting it.”

Fusco said Gabriele, who is being investigated for

aggravated theft and faces up to six years in jail if found

guilty, was “moved by the desire to do something that could be

an act of help, an act of love, towards the pope”.

“Obviously the way in which each person expresses (such

desires) are subjective and are debatable,” Fusco added.

Gabriele has been held in a small “safe room” inside the

Vatican police station for the past two months, but on Saturday

a decision was taken to allow him to return to his flat under

house arrest.

Some Italian newspapers allege corruption in the Vatican’s

business dealings with Italian companies, involving the payment

of inflated prices for work, while others highlight rivalries

among cardinals and clashes over the management of the Vatican’s

bank, known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).

REGRET

Fusco said his client showed signs of remorse.

“He has been able to reflect long and hard these days and

came to the conclusion that the method (of helping the pope)

could have been different. He certainly regrets the method that

was used.”

Many commentators have said that Gabriele, who served the

pope his meals and rode in the front seat of the popemobile at

Pope Benedict’s general audiences, could not have acted alone

and was just a scapegoat for others. But the lawyer denied this.

“We can say with absolute certainty that there was no

network, there were no plots, either in the Vatican or outside

the Vatican, that Paolo was part of,” Fusco said.

The butler’s other lawyer, Cristiana Arru, said Gabriele had

not been motivated by personal gain. “He received no money or

personal benefits”, she said.

Gabriele is widely expected to ask the pope, who is the

sovereign of Vatican City, for a pardon. If is it not granted,

he would serve his term in an Italian jail according to

bilateral agreements between the Vatican and Italy.

“The Holy Father will make the decision he deems opportune,”

Fusco said, referring to a possible request for a pardon.

Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said a

Vatican magistrate would decide by the start of August whether

to order Gabriele to stand trial. Any trial would not start

before September.

Gabriele, who has dual Vatican and Italian citizenship, is

still the only person formally accused in the “VatiLeaks”

scandal.

A commission of three cardinals that led a separate

investigation, and who questioned many people in the Vatican,

delivered their report directly to the pope last week. Its

contents remain confidential.

(Editing by Andrew Osborn)