The main ingredients are the leaked confidential papers of Pope Benedict XVI in an incident that has led to interpretations of such battles for influence inside the Curia that Der Spiegel claims that the "mood at the Vatican is apocalyptic."

Turmoil has followed the arrest and imprisonment of papal valet, Paolo Gabriele, in a 377-square-foot cell, one window, no TV, that most people did not know lies deep in the Vatican maze, with the explanation that the butler did it, or, rather, the butler is taking the fall in a plot, code-named, honest to God, Maria, engineered by high-ranking officials to circulate papers damaging two close papal aides, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, and Benedict's secretary from the old country, Monsignor Georg Ganswein. Despite deep-sixing the butler, the Dreyfuss of this comic opera, new documents have surfaced with the threat of more to come if Bertone and Ganswein are not forced out of their jobs. Read more

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: The Telegraph

That instinct seemed to be the principal subtext to Benedict XVI's June 1-3 outing to Milan.

Formally, Benedict made the short trip north to attend the seventh "World Meeting of Families," a Vatican-organized event held every three years to celebrate marriage, youth and the family. In context, however, the trip also offered an opportunity for the Catholic rank and file to embrace Benedict amid one of the greatest trials of his papacy, the mushrooming Vatileaks scandal.

That, at any rate, is how Vatican officials have touted what happened. In an interview with Italian TV, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State (and, according to many analysts, the principal target of the leaks), referred to the "extraordinary display of love for the pope and ... support for him and his magisterium" witnessed in the streets of Milan, as well as among the more than 1 million people who turned out for Sunday Mass at Bresso Park.

Bertone said it was significant that such affection, including "frenetic" applause for the pope wherever he went, poured out "in this particular moment" — and by that, of course, he meant the current atmosphere of scandal. Continue reading

Sources

• John L Allen Jr in National Catholic Reporter
• Image: thestar.com

"I categorically deny that any cardinal, Italian or otherwise, is a suspect," Lombardi said.

Universe Rome correspondent Gerard O'Connell reports on Twitter that Lombardi also denied there was a link between Vatileaks and Gotti Tedeschi, the deposed head of the Vatican bank.

Reports however continue to emerge in the Italian media of at least one Cardinal's involvement in Vatileaks.

"There isn't just one brain behind the operation, there are several," the whistleblower told la Republica's Marco Ansaldo.

"There are cardinals, private secretaries, monsignors and the small fry. Men and women, priests and laypeople. The whistleblowers even include cardinals," the whistleblower said at a lunch meeting in one of Rome's northern suburbs.

"The Vatican Secretary of State cannot admit that and has the small fry arrested, like "Paoletto" (as Paolo Gabriele is affectionately known), the Pope's valet. Who has got nothing to do with it apart from having passed on some letters," he said.

The whistleblower said the group is concerned at the power accumulated by Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,

"Those doing it are acting to protect the Pope."

Realising he has to protect himself, Pope Benedict has resorted to surrounding himself with five people, whom he knows he can trust, so-called the rapporteurs, his 'secret agents.'

The role of these trusted people is to tell the Pope who are his friends and who his enemies.

"There is one physically collecting the evidence. Another preparing the ground, and the other two make sure all this is possible," he said.

Despite Lombardi's official comments, the whistleblower said there is a link between Vatileaks and the dismissal of Vatican Bank's former president, Ettore Gotti.

The whistleblower blames Bertone for the dismissal.

"Gotti didn't answer to anyone, only the Pope, sending Benedict memos to describe the situation inside the IOR (Institute for Religious Works, the official name of the Vatican bank). Including the failed operations, like the law against money laundering or the takeover of the San Raffaele hospital and research centre. Bertone gets jealous, accuses Gotti and decides to oust him. When the Pope heard about Gotti's dismissal last Thursday, he started to cry, "My friend Ettore!"

Lombardi identified Vatileaks as the worst crisis of Pope Benedict's pontificate, adding it had hurt the faith of Catholics in their Church.

He said the pope was following the case closely but calmly and that talk of an internal power struggle behind the case had been exaggerated.

Sources

• Reuters
• Gerard O'Connell
• la Republica (Whistleblower interview)
• Image: Yahoo News