THE Pope's butler has said he is innocent of stealing private correspondence but guilty of betraying the trust of the Pontiff, whom he said he loved like a son would his father.
Paolo Gabriele entered the witness box in a Vatican courtroom yesterday to defend himself against a charge of aggravated theft.
Prosecutors say Gabriele stole papal letters and documents alleging power struggles and corruption and passed them off to a journalist in one of the most damaging scandals of the Pope's reign.
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