© The Associated Press/Domenico StinellisIn this Monday, April 21, 2008 file photo, Pope Benedict XVI, left, arrives at the Italian air force 31st Squadron base in Ciampino, 30 kilometers south-east of Rome, on his way back from a six-day trip to the U.S. including the U.N. and Ground Zero in N.Y.C. The Vatican has confirmed Saturday, May 26, 2012, that the pope's butler Paolo Gabriele, at right carrying bags, was arrested in an embarrassing leaks scandal.
Vatican City - The pope's former butler Paolo Gabriele, who will stand trial for leaking confidential papers, was a model employee in many ways but also a troubled and frustrated character, the Holy See says.
Renowned as a trusted and dedicated companion to the aged pontiff, Gabriele, 46, shocked the tiny Vatican community with his admission of guilt and left many wondering why he decided to turn whistleblower and risk his freedom.
Questions remain over whether Gabriele was acting out of love for the Church and the pope, as he has claimed, or whether he has become the scapegoat in a wider conspiracy to unseat powerful figures in the Vatican.
"I was moved to act by my deep faith and the desire to shed light on everything that goes on in the Church," Gabriele told a Vatican magistrate.
Married with three children, he was known as a pious and very discreet character, who was one of the select few who had access to Pope Benedict XVI's private chambers and attended him both when he woke and last thing at night.
Known as Paoletto, he had worked for Benedict since 2006 and was often seen by the pope's side on foreign trips, riding with him in the "popemobile".
It was Gabriele's job to prepare the pontifical ceremonial robes, which he helped the 85-year-old German pontiff don each morning at dawn, before serving him lunch and dinner, and sometimes sitting down to eat alongside him.
Comment: 1.2 billion-euro spent on security to arrest one Parkinson's sufferer for 'not smiling'.