Three new suspects in Vatileaks scandal work in the Secretariat of State

Sadness in his heart": as Benedict XVI scandal makes public his displeasure on the leaks scandal in the Vatican, there is speculation behind the scenes on more arrests: three lay people from the State Secretariat have attracted the attention of the investigators.

Paolo Gabriele, the treacherous servant of the Pope is sitting in a holding cell in the Vatican. So far he is the only one who has been arrested in connection with the scandal of stolen confidential documents of the Pope. But it is expected that Domenico Giani, the head of the Vatican Police and former employee of the Italian secret service will strike again. According to rumours, three laymen employed at the Secretariat of State of the Holy See are in his sights.

Still, the interrogations have not started of the 46-year-old "Paoletto" in whose apartment, Vatican police found Papal documents. But details are now circulating. Perhaps, he has been for a year acting as a spy and thief - but on whose behalf, that is the question. For six months, the Papal policeman apparently had him under observation because of contacts that Paolo Gabriele had outside the Vatican. A document from the office of the Holy Father then apparently removed the doubt that he must be the man who had passed on the papers.

Pope Secretary George Gänswein had discovered the document in the book "Sua Santità" by Gianluigi Nuzzi. Nuzzi quoted from documents from Benedict's correspondence and documents of the State Secretariat, a number of which are reproduced in facsimile. It is now rumored that Gänswein confronted Paoletto with the serious suspicion, hours before the police made the arrest last Wednesday. The paper in question, the balance sheet of the " Pope Benedict XVI. Foundation " must have been taken from Gänsweins desk, as this document is not passed for safekeeping to the archive.

The Pope criticized the media. Some had "painted a picture of the Holy See, which does not correspond to reality," the pope said to 15,000 faithful at the General Audience. Ther was "sadness in his heart" about the revelations. Benedict has every reason to be so, because it's not just about the disappointment with the man who belonged to his household for six years and had the closest contact with him. It can hardly be doubted that behind "Vatileaks", the leaks in the Vatican there is intrigue and a power struggle. Supporters and opponents of the controversial Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone juggle to the detriment of the church and the Pope.

For the first time, the Official Journal of the Vatican, Osservatore Romano has picked up the scandal. It was not Bertone who took the floor, but his deputy, Archbishop Angelo Becciu. He was bitter to see that such an investigation would now take place. The publication of the stolen papers was an "immoral, outrageous act," said, Becciu but "the image of a Vatican of fighting, poison and suspicions" was still wrong.

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