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According to a new study, for the first time in its history, the United States does not have a Protestant majority.
The rising numbers of Americans with no religious affiliation is on the rise, which led to the percentage of Protestant adults in the U.S. reaching a new low of 48%.
This is the first time that Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has reported with certainty that the number has fallen below 50%.
The drop has long been anticipated and comes at a time when there no Protestants are on the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Republicans have their first presidential ticket with no Protestant nominees.
Among the reasons for the change are the growth in nondenominational Christians who can no longer be categorized as Protestant, and a spike in the number of American adults who say they have no religion.
The Pew study, released Tuesday, found that about 20% of Americans say they have no religious affiliation, an increase from 15% in the last five years.
Scholars have long debated whether people who say they no longer belong to a religious group should be considered secular.
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has reported with certainty that the number of Protestants in US has fallen below 50 percent
While the category as defined by Pew researchers includes atheists, it also encompasses majorities of people who say they believe in God, and a notable minority who pray daily or consider themselves “spiritual” but not “religious”.
Still, Pew found overall that most of the unaffiliated aren’t actively seeking another religious home, indicating that their ties with organized religion are permanently broken.
Growth among those with no religion has been a major preoccupation of American faith leaders who worry that the United States, a highly religious country, would go the way of Western Europe, where church attendance has plummeted.
Pope Benedict XVI has partly dedicated his pontificate to combating secularism in the West. This week in Rome, he is convening a three-week synod, or assembly, of bishops from around the world aimed at bringing back Roman Catholics who have left the church.
The trend also has political implications.
American voters who describe themselves as having no religion vote overwhelmingly for Democrats.
Pew found Americans with no religion support abortion rights and gay marriage at a much higher-rate than the U.S. public at large.
These “nones” are an increasing segment of voters who are registered as Democrats or lean toward the party, growing from 17% to 24% over the last five years.
The religiously unaffiliated are becoming as important a constituency to Democrats as evangelicals are to Republicans, Pew said.
The Pew analysis, conducted with PBS’ “Religion & Ethics Newsweekly”, is based on several surveys, including a poll of nearly 3,000 adults conducted June 28-July 9, 2012.
The finding on the Protestant majority is based on responses from a larger group of more than 17,000 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.9 percentage points, Pew researchers said.
Pew said it had also previously calculated a drop slightly below 50% among U.S. Protestants, but those findings had fallen within the margin of error.
The General Social Survey, which is conducted by the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center, reported for 2010 that the percentage of U.S. Protestants was around 46.7%.
Researchers have been struggling for decades to find a definitive reason for the steady rise in those with no religion.
The spread of secularism in Western Europe was often viewed as a byproduct of growing wealth in the region. Yet among industrialized nations, the United States stood out for its deep religiosity in the face of increasing wealth.
Now, religion scholars say the decreased religiosity in the United States could reflect a change in how Americans describe their religious lives.
In 2007, 60% of people who said they seldom or never attend religious services still identified themselves as part of a particular religious tradition. In 2012, that statistic fell to 50%, according to the Pew report.
“Part of what’s going on here is that the stigma associated with not being part of any religious community has declined,” said John Green, a specialist in religion and politics at the University of Akron, who advised Pew on the survey.
“In some parts of the country, there is still a stigma. But overall, it’s not the way it used to be.”
The Pew study has found the growth in unaffiliated Americans spans a broad range of groups: men and women, college graduates and those without a college degree, people earning less than $30,000 annually and those earning $75,000 or more.
However, along ethnic lines, the largest jump in “nones” has been among whites. One-fifth of whites describe themselves as having no religion.
More growth in “nones” is expected. One-third of adults under age 30 have no religious affiliation, compared to nine per cent of people 65 and older.
Pew researchers wrote that “young adults today are much more likely to be unaffiliated than previous generations were at a similar stage in their lives”, and aren’t expected to become more religiously active as they age.
Marcello Di Finizio has scaled the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, in an apparent protest against EU measures he alleges penalize small businesses.
He is standing on one of the many ornate window ledges of the dome.
A large fabric banner hangs beneath him reading, “Help! Enough Monti. Enough Europe. Enough multinationals!”
Marcello Di Finizio, a beach bar owner, staged a similar protest in July against an EU directive that will see parts of the seafront auctioned off.
Firefighters have been pacing a walkway which circles the cupola on the top of the dome.
On the square below, Pope Benedict XVI held a service on Wednesday morning.
Marcello Di Finizio started to scale the dome, an iconic feature of one of Catholicism’s most revered churches, on Tuesday afternoon.
According to one of his friends, he is angry about an EU directive, backed by the Italian government, which will reform rules for auctioning licenses to operate patches of Italy’s seafront. He argues the measure will favor big multinationals.
A telephone call to Italian ministers on Tuesday failed to persuade him to climb down.
Marcello Di Finizio rents out parasols and sun loungers to sun bathers.
In August beach operators protested against the measures by keeping parasols closed along large stretches on Italy’s coastline.
The operators have said the new rules threaten the jobs of some 600,000 resort workers.
The directive is due to come into effect in Italy from 2016.
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Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict’s former butler, who is on trial inside the Vatican, has denied charges of stealing confidential documents from the pontiff’s private apartment.
Paolo Gabriele, 46, pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated theft but said he had abused the Pope’s trust.
He said he believed the pontiff was being manipulated, and that he acted alone in copying the sensitive papers.
The files, which revealed allegations of corruption and infighting at the Vatican, were leaked to the media.
Paolo Gabriele was being questioned in court by the president of the Vatican City tribunal. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted, but he could be pardoned by Pope Benedict XVI.
The butler admitted to the court that he was photocopying documents in the Pope’s apartment, but said he did not regard this as a crime.
There has been speculation that the butler had accomplices as he set about leaking the Vatican’s secrets.
But he insisted in court that he had acted alone, adding that he had “many contacts” in the Vatican where he said there was “widespread unease”.
Paolo Gabriele also complained of the conditions he endured for weeks in a tiny Vatican cell after his arrest. He said it was so small that he could not extend his arms, and the light was kept on 24 hours a day.
The judges have ordered an inquiry into Paolo Gabriele’s allegations. However, the Vatican said conditions inside the Vatican police’s security room respected minimum international standards.
This is the second day of the trial. It was adjourned last week after Vatican judges refused to admit evidence gathered by cardinals.
Instead, the judges in the high-profile trial said they would rely only on evidence from the Vatican police and prosecutor. They seized 82 boxes of papers from Paolo Gabriele’s home.
The Pope’s private secretary, Georg Gaenswein, and one of the four German and Italian nuns who work in the 85-year-old pontiff’s household are also expected to testify.
Correspondents say their testimony could shed light on the very private world of the household.
The chief judge said the court hoped to reach a verdict by the end of the week.
No TV cameras or recorders are being allowed inside the courtroom for the most high-profile case to be held in the Vatican since it was established as a sovereign state in 1929. Coverage of the trial is restricted to just eight journalists.
Paolo Gabriele was identified as the source of leaked documents that were published in a book by an Italian journalist, Gianluigi Nuzzi, in May.
The documents included private correspondence between senior Vatican figures, and appeared to reveal bitter power struggles and corruption.
Correspondents say the revelations seem aimed primarily at discrediting the Vatican’s powerful Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who has been in his post since 2006.
The Pope ordered cardinals to carry out an inquiry separate to the probe by Vatican police after the scandal broke. The results of their investigation have not been made public.
The court decided that his fellow defendant, Vatican computer technician Claudio Sciarpelletti, will be tried separately for aiding and abetting a crime. He had exerted his right to stay away from the hearing.
Paolo Gabriele was the Pope’s trusted servant for years and held the keys to the papal apartments.
The “Vatileaks” scandal has been one of the most difficult crises of Pope Benedict’s seven-year papacy, correspondents say.
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Vatican judges have refused to admit key evidence in the trial of Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict’s former butler, charged with stealing sensitive documents.
Paolo Gabriele’s lawyers had asked to include evidence gathered by cardinals who carried out an inquiry into the “Vatileaks” scandal for Pope Benedict.
But judges at the high-profile trial said they would rely only on evidence from the Vatican police and prosecutor.
They adjourned the case until Tuesday, when Paolo Gabriele will be questioned.
The 46-year-old admitted to investigators that he had leaked confidential documents to expose “evil and corruption”.
He was identified as the source of leaked documents that were published in a book by an Italian journalist in May.
The documents included private correspondence between senior Vatican figures, and appeared to reveal bitter power struggles and corruption.
Pope Benedict XVI ordered cardinals to carry out an inquiry separate to the probe by Vatican police after the scandal broke.
The results of their investigation have not been made public.
Paolo Gabriele faces up to four years in prison if convicted of aggravated theft, but he could be pardoned by the Pope.
The court decided that his fellow defendant, Vatican computer technician Claudio Sciarpelletti, will be tried separately for aiding and abetting a crime. He had exerted his right to stay away from the hearing.
Paolo Gabriele was the Pope’s trusted servant for years and held the keys to the papal apartments.
It has been one of the most difficult crises of Pope Benedict’s seven-year papacy.
No TV cameras or recorders are being allowed inside the courtroom for the most high-profile case to be held in the Vatican since it was established as a sovereign state in 1929.
Paolo Gabriele, dressed in a pale grey suit, showed little reaction as judges rejected almost all of his lawyers’ requests.
He will be interrogated in court by the president of the Vatican City tribunal on Tuesday.
The chief judge said the court hoped to reach a verdict by the end of next week.
Among witnesses due to give evidence next week is Pope Benedict’s private secretary, Georg Gaenswein, and one of the six German and Italian nuns who work in the pope’s private household.
The Vatican butler was arrested in May, accused of passing papal correspondence to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, whose book His Holiness: The secret papers of Pope Benedict XVI was published that month.
Correspondents say the revelations seem aimed primarily at discrediting the Vatican’s powerful Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who has been in his post since 2006.
Prosecutors quoted Paolo Gabriele as saying during his interrogation that he knew taking the documents was wrong but he felt the Holy Spirit was inspiring him to shed light on the problems he saw around him.
He said he felt the Pope was being kept in the dark or misinformed by his collaborators.
Pope Benedict said after his former butler’s arrest that the news had “brought sadness in my heart”.
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Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler, is set to go on trial in the Vatican on charges of aggravated theft.
Paolo Gabriele, 46, has admitted taking confidential documents and leaking them to the Italian media – although no guilty plea has been entered.
He has told investigators that he was hoping to expose “evil and corruption” within the Church.
While technically he faces up to four years in prison if found guilty, Paolo Gabriele could be pardoned by the Pope.
If he is jailed, he will serve his sentence in an Italian prison as Vatican City has no long-term detention facilities on its territory.
Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler, is set to go on trial in the Vatican on charges of aggravated theft
Paolo Gabriele is standing trial along with Vatican computer technician Claudio Sciarpelletti, who is accused of aiding and abetting a crime.
He was the Pope’s trusted servant for years and held the keys to the papal apartments.
Many of the letters and other documents he took from the pontiff’s desk were published in a book by an Italian investigative journalist in May.
The so-called “Vatileaks” scandal has sparked allegations of corruption and internal conflicts at the Holy See.
It has been one of the most difficult crises of Pope Benedict’s seven-year papacy.
No TV cameras or recorders are being allowed inside the courtroom for the most high-profile case to be held in the Vatican since the Holy See was established as a sovereign state in 1929.
The Vatican was arrested in May, accused of passing papal correspondence to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, whose book His Holiness: The secret papers of Pope Benedict XVI was published that month.
Some of the most sensational letters were written to the Pope by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, currently the Vatican’s ambassador to Washington, who was deputy governor of Vatican City at the time.
In one letter, Archbishop Vigano complains that when he took office in 2009, he discovered corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to outside companies at inflated prices.
He later writes about a smear campaign against him by other Vatican officials upset at his actions to clean up purchasing procedures.
The archbishop begs in vain not to be moved away from the Vatican as a punishment for exposing the alleged corruption.
Correspondents say the revelations seem aimed primarily at discrediting the Vatican’s powerful Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who has been in his post since 2006.
Prosecutors quoted Paolo Gabriele as saying during his interrogation that he knew taking the documents was wrong but he felt the Holy Spirit was inspiring him to shed light on the problems he saw around him.
He said he felt the Pope was being kept in the dark or misinformed by his collaborators.
“Seeing evil and corruption everywhere in the Church… I was sure that a shock, even a media one, would have been healthy to bring the church back on the right track,” he was quoted as saying in June.
Pope Benedict said after his former butler’s arrest that the news had “brought sadness in my heart”.
Psychologists were summoned by the Vatican to determine whether Paolo Gabriele could be held responsible for his actions.
The results were conflicting.
One report concluded that while he could be held accountable for his actions, he was socially dangerous, easily influenced and could “commit acts that could endanger himself or others”.
This report described Paolo Gabriele as subject to ideas of “grandiosity”, as attention-seeking and as a simple man with a “fragile personality with paranoid tendencies covering profound personal insecurity”.
Another report cited in the indictment concluded that the defendant, a 46-year-old father of three, had shown no signs of major psychological disorder or of being dangerous.
The Roman Catholic Church in the Australian state of Victoria has confirmed that more than 600 children have been sexually abused by its priests since the 1930s.
The Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, described the figures as “horrific and shameful”.
They were released in a submission to a state parliamentary inquiry into the handling of abuse cases.
Campaigners say the true number of abuse victims could be up to 10,000.
Australian Roman Catholic Church has confirmed that more than 600 children have been sexually abused by its priests since the 1930s
In its submission, the church said the 620 cases went back 80 years with the majority taking place between the 1960s and the 1980s.
It says it is still investigating a further 45 cases.
In a statement, Archbishop Denis Hart said it was important to be open “about the horrific abuse that has occurred in Victoria and elsewhere”.
“We look to this inquiry to assist the healing of those who have been abused, to examine the broad context of the church’s response, especially over the last 16 years, and to make recommendations to enhance the care for victims and preventative measures that are now in place,” the statement said.
Campaign groups say that many cases of abuse have gone unreported, and they believe the true number of victims is closer to 10,000 in Victoria alone.
Abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests has been a major issue in Australia recent years.
During a visit to Australia in July 2008, Pope Benedict XVI met some of the victims and made a public apology for the abuse.
Hundreds of thousands of worshippers have attended a seafront Mass in Beirut on the concluding day of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Lebanon.
Pope Benedict XVI appealed for leaders in the Middle East to work for peace and reconciliation and urged those at the service to “be peacemakers”.
The pontiff also renewed his call for a end to the violence in Syria.
He later left Lebanon, after a ceremony at Beirut airport attended by flag-waving crowds.
The visit came amid anti-US protests in the region over a film deemed insulting to Islam.
It was the first papal trip to Lebanon since John Paul II went there in 1997.
An estimated 350,000 worshippers gathered for the waterfront Mass earlier on Sunday. They waved flags and cheered as the Pope made his way through the crowd in his bullet-proof popemobile.
During the service, the Pope urged Christians throughout the Middle East to do their part to end “the grim trail of death and destruction” in the region.
Hundreds of thousands of worshippers have attended a seafront Mass in Beirut on the concluding day of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Lebanon
Calling again for peace in Syria, he said: “I appeal to the Arab countries, that, as brothers, they might propose workable solutions respecting the dignity, the rights and the religion of every human person.”
Christians from around Lebanon, as well as Syria, Iraq and further afield, travelled to see him speak in what must have been a very thrilling day.
On Saturday, the pontiff met Lebanese political leaders at the presidential palace near Beirut.
Lebanon’s politicians are bitterly divided over the conflict in neighboring Syria, but the Pope met leaders from across the spectrum, including the Shia Muslim movement Hezbollah.
Addressing an audience of government officials, foreign diplomats and religious leaders, he called for the “fundamental right” of religious freedom to be observed.
Earlier in his visit, the Pope condemned religious fundamentalism and called on all religious leaders in the Middle East “to do everything possible to uproot this threat”.
Controversy over a film deemed to be offensive to the Prophet Mohammed has provoked protests throughout the region since the Pope’s arrival in Lebanon.
The film, Innocence of Muslims, is believed to have been made by a Coptic Christian in the US, and related unrest has led to the death of, among others, the US ambassador to Libya.
The Pope also addressed a gathering of thousands of young people on Saturday, and urged them to stay in Lebanon “and take your place in society and in the Church”.
The number of Christians in the region has been greatly reduced in recent years due to political upheaval and economic pressures.
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Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini has described the Roman Catholic Church as being “200 years behind” the times.
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini died on Friday, aged 85.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera has published his last interview, recorded in August, in which he said: “The Church is tired… our prayer rooms are empty.”
Carlo Maria Martini, once tipped as a future pope, urged the Church to recognize its errors and to embark on a radical path of change, beginning with the Pope.
Thousands of people have been filing past his coffin at Milan’s cathedral, where he was archbishop for more than 20 years.
The cardinal, who had retired from the post in 2002, suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, is to be buried on Monday.
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini has described the Roman Catholic Church as being "200 years behind" the times
Carlo Maria Martini, a popular figure with liberal stances on many issues, commanded great respect from both Pope John Paul II and his successor Pope Benedict XVI.
The cardinal – a member of the Jesuit religious order – was often critical in his writings and comments on Church teaching.
He was a courageous and outspoken figure during the years he headed Europe’s largest Catholic diocese.
In his last interview, given to a fellow Jesuit priest less than a month ago and published the day after his death, the cardinal made sweeping criticisms of the Catholic Church.
Catholics lacked confidence in the Church, he said.
“Our culture has grown old, our churches are big and empty and the church bureaucracy rises up, our religious rites and the vestments we wear are pompous.”
Unless the Church adopted a more generous attitude towards divorced persons, it will lose the allegiance of future generations, the cardinal added. The question, he said, is not whether divorced couples can receive holy communion, but how the Church can help complex family situations.
And the advice he leaves behind to conquer the tiredness of the Church was a “radical transformation, beginning with the Pope and his bishops”.
“The child sex scandals oblige us to undertake a journey of transformation,” Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini says, referring to the child sex abuse that has rocked the Catholic Church in the past few years.
He was not afraid to speak his mind on matters that the Vatican sometimes considered taboo, including the use of condoms to fight AIDS and the role of women in the Church.
In 2008, for example, he criticized the Church’s prohibition of birth control, saying the stance had likely driven many faithful away, and publicly stated in 2006 that condoms could “in some situations, be a lesser evil”.
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Paolo Gabriele, former butler to Pope Benedict XVI, will stand trial for stealing confidential papers and leaking them to the press, a magistrate has ruled.
Paolo Gabriele was arrested in May after police found confidential documents at his Vatican flat.
He has been charged with aggravated theft while another Vatican employee, a computer analyst, faces complicity charges.
The Vatican says it is continuing to investigate the leaks.
Paolo Gabriele told investigators he acted because he saw “evil and corruption everywhere in the church”, according to Reuters.
If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison.
Paolo Gabriele, former butler to Pope Benedict XVI, will stand trial for stealing confidential papers and leaking them to the press
The Vatican also accuses computer analyst Claudio Sciarpelletti of acting as Paolo Gabriele’s accomplice.
The trial will not take place until October at the earliest, Judge Piero Bonnet has told the press.
Earlier this year a series of media leaks, dubbed “Vatileaks”, exposed alleged corruption and conflicts at the Holy See.
In April, the Pope set up a special commission of cardinals to find the source of the leaks.
As the Pope’s butler and personal assistant, Paolo Gabriele, 46, was one of a select few lay people with access to the papal apartments.
He has been living under house arrest at his family’s Vatican flat, where police discovered a stash of confidential correspondence taken from the Pope’s Secretariat of State.
Paolo Gabriele’s lawyer said his client confessed to stealing the papers but told investigators he thought he was acting in the interests of the Catholic Church.
His arrest took place shortly after the publication of a controversial book, entitled His Holiness, by Italian investigative journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.
The bestseller featured reproductions of private correspondence between the Pope and his personal secretary discussing corruption and malpractice among Vatican administrators.
The Vatican called the book “criminal” and vowed to take legal action against the author, publisher, and whoever leaked the documents.
Gianluigi Nuzzi has refused to divulge whether Paolo Gabriele was one of his sources.
Some Vatican observers believe Paolo Gabriele may be the scapegoat for a wider conspiracy to smear certain of the Pope’s top aides.
The highly sensitive media leaks have been an evident embarrassment to the Pope, prompting the rare investigation.
The Vatileaks scandal has dominated the columns of Italian newspapers, filling TV programmes and magazines.
The controversy began in January, when Gianluigi Nuzzi published letters from a former top Vatican administrator begging the Pope not to transfer him for having exposed alleged corruption.
Other leaked documents concerned “poison pen” memos criticizing Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope’s number two, and the reporting of suspicious payments by the Vatican Bank.
Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Argentine Bishop Fernando Bargallo after the publication of pictures showing him embracing a woman on a Mexican beach.
Bishop Fernando Bargallo, 57, was photographed in the sea, hugging a woman in a bikini.
The bishop initially said she was a childhood friend, but later admitted to having had “amorous ties” with her.
Bishop Fernando Bargallo was in charge of the diocese of Merlo-Moreno, in the province of Buenos Aires.
The scandal broke last week, when an Argentine television station broadcast pictures of Monsignor Fernando Bargallo on holiday at a beach resort in Mexico in the company of a woman.
Bishop Fernando Bargallo initially said the woman was a childhood friend, but later admitted to having had "amorous ties" with her
In one of the pictures, he is seen half-submerged in the water, embracing a woman in a bikini.
Shortly after the pictures were published, Monsignor Fernando Bargallo gave a public statement saying that the woman was a childhood friend, whom he had known all of his life.
He said the situation in which he had been photographed was “imprudent, as it could lead people to jump to the wrong conclusion”.
Fernando Bargallo asked his flock to forgive him for “the ambiguity of the pictures” and urged them to view the photos “in the context of a long friendship”.
But later that same week, Monsignor Fernando Bargallo convened the priests of his diocese and told them he had had “amorous ties” with the woman and would resign.
The Vatican said he would be replaced by Monsignor Alcides Jorge Pedro Casaretto.
Pope Benedict XVI has broken his silence on the Vatileaks scandal, expressing his anger at the way some parts of the media are covering the story.
Pope Benedict said “exaggerated” and “gratuitous” reports were painting a false image of the Holy See.
A series of leaks has revealed allegations of corruption, mismanagement and internal conflicts.
Paolo Gabriele, the Pope’s butler, has been charged with illegally obtaining private papal documents and memos.
Paolo Gabriele, 46, who lives with his wife and children in a Vatican flat, where a stash of confidential documents was allegedly discovered, has pledged “full co-operation” with the investigation.
Paolo Gabriele, the Pope's butler, has been charged with illegally obtaining private papal documents and memos
The Vatican has denied Italian media reports suggesting that Paolo Gabriele had not acted alone, but was part of a group of 20 or so whistleblowers led by a cardinal.
During his weekly address in St Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI said: “Suggestions have multiplied, amplified by some media, which are totally gratuitous and which have gone well beyond the facts, offering an image of the Holy See which does not respond to reality.”
He also spoke of the impact of the charges against Paolo Gabriele, his valet for many years and one a very limited number of people who had access to his private apartments.
“The events of recent days about the Curia [Vatican ecclesiastical officials] and my collaborators have brought sadness in my heart,” Pope Benedict said.
He added that he was grateful to those who had continued to work alongside him “every day, with loyalty and a spirit of sacrifice and in silence”.
On Tuesday, the Vatican undersecretary of state, Archbishop Angelo Becciu, called the reports a “brutal” attack on the Pope.
“It’s not just that the Pope’s papers were stolen, but that people who turned to him as the vicar of Christ have had their consciences violated,” he told the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
The scandal began in January, when Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi revealed letters from a former top Vatican administrator begging the Pope not to transfer him for having exposed alleged corruption.
The prelate involved, Monsignor Carlo Maria Vigano, is now the Vatican’s US ambassador.
Last month, the Pope set up a special commission of cardinals to find the source of the confidential memos.
But in the space of a few days last week, the head of the Vatican’s own bank was abruptly dismissed, Paolo Gabriele was arrested and an entire book by Gianluigi Nuzzi was published with reproductions of the Pope’s private correspondence.
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Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict’s butler, has been formally named as a suspect in the Vatican’s inquiry into a series of media leaks from the Church’s highest levels.
Vatican magistrates accused Paolo Gabriele, 46, of illegal possession of confidential documents.
A series of leaks, dubbed Vatileaks, has revealed alleged corruption, mismanagement and internal conflicts.
Last month, Pope Benedict XVI set up a special commission of cardinals to find the source.
Paolo Gabriele is the pope’s personal butler and assistant and one of very few laymen to have access to the Pope’s private apartments.
He lives with his wife and three children in an apartment within the Vatican walls, where Italian media report that a stash of confidential documents had been discovered.
“I confirm that the person detained on Wednesday for illegal possession of private documents is Mr. Paolo Gabriele, who remains in detention,” the spokesman for the Holy See, Father Federico Lombardi said, according to Italy’s state broadcaster, Rai.
Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict's butler, has been formally named as a suspect in the Vatican's inquiry into a series of media leaks from the Church's highest levels
Father Federico Lombardi added that now the initial stage of the process was complete, Paolo Gabriele had nominated two lawyers capable of representing him at a Vatican Tribunal, and had met with them.
He would, the Vatican spokesman added, have “all the juridical guarantees foreseen by the criminal code of the State of Vatican City”.
As the Vatican has no jail, Paolo Gabriele is being held in one of the three so-called “secure rooms” in the offices of the Vatican’s tiny police force inside the walled city-state, Reuters reports.
If convicted, Paolo Gabriele could face a sentence of up to 30 years for illegal possession of documents of a head of state, probably to be served in an Italian prison due to an agreement between Italy and the Vatican, Italian media report.
The Vatileaks scandal has filled Italian media – dominating the columns of Italian newspapers and filling TV programmes and magazines.
The detention comes during one of the most tumultuous weeks in recent history for the Vatican.
Last week a book, entitled His Holiness, was published by an Italian journalist with reproductions of confidential letters and memos between the pope and his personal secretary.
The Vatican called the book “criminal” and vowed to take legal action against the author, publisher, and whoever leaked the documents.
Last Thursday, the president of the Vatican bank – Ettore Gotti Tedeschi – was ousted by the bank’s board.
Sources close to the investigation said he too had been found to have leaked documents, though the official reason for his departure was that he had failed to do his job.
Ettore Gotti Tedeschi himself said the move had been a punishment for his attempt to make the bank more open.
The leak of a string of highly sensitive internal documents from inside the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, including personal letters to Pope Benedict XVI, has been an evident embarrassment to the Pope, prompting the rare investigation.
The leaked documents include a letter to Pope Benedict XVI by the Vatican’s current ambassador to Washington alleging cronyism, nepotism and corruption among the administrators of Vatican City.
Others concern “poison pen” memos criticizing Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope’s number two, and the reporting of suspicious payments by the Vatican Bank.
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The Vatican says it has detained a person, named by Italian media as Paolo Gabriele, who is suspected of leaking a series of confidential documents and letters to the media.
Reports citing unnamed sources said he was the Pope Benedict’s personal butler.
The “Vatileaks” scandal, as it is known, has enraged the Holy See. The leaks have revealed alleged corruption, mismanagement and internal conflicts.
The Vatican said the person detained was being questioned by Vatican magistrates.
Last month, Pope Benedict XVI set up a special commission of cardinals to investigate the leaks.
“The inquiry carried out by Vatican police… allowed them to identify someone in possession of confidential documents,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists.
“This person is currently being questioned.”
Italian media have named the arrested man as Paolo Gabriele, a personal butler and assistant to Pope Benedict XVI and one of very few laymen to have access to the Pope’s private apartments.
Italian media have named the arrested man in Vatileaks scandal as Paolo Gabriele, a personal butler and assistant to Pope Benedict XVI and one of very few laymen to have access to the Pope's private apartments
Among the select number who are allowed to enter the Pope’s private study include four nuns and two secretaries, as well as the butler.
Italian media reports said that a stash of confidential documents had been discovered at his flat, within the walls of the Vatican.
The news of the arrest comes just a day after the president of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was ousted by its board.
The official reason for his departure was his failure to fulfill the “primary functions of his office”, the Vatican has said.
But, according to reports, he was also suspected of being involved in the leaking of the documents.
Ettore Gotti Tedeschi said had been punished for his attempt to make the bank more open.
“I have paid for my transparency,” he told Reuters.
The Vatileaks scandal has filled Italian media – dominating the columns of Italian newspapers and filling TV programmes and magazines.
The leak of a string of highly sensitive internal documents from inside the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, including personal letters to Pope Benedict XVI, has been an evident embarrassment to the Pope, prompting the rare investigation.
The leaked documents include a letter to Pope Benedict by the Vatican’s current ambassador to Washington alleging cronyism, nepotism and corruption among the administrators of Vatican City.
Others concern “poison pen” memos criticizing Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope’s number two, and the reporting of suspicious payments by the Vatican Bank.
If the person detained is a layman he would be put on trial in Italy, under Italian criminal law.
But if he is a churchman, he could be tried for breaching ecclesiastical law by a Vatican tribunal, though this would be extremely rare.
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