Paolo Gabriele, the former butler to Pope Benedict XVI whose leaking of confidential Vatican documents triggered the "VatiLeaks" scandal, has died aged 54.
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Vatican News, the Vatican's official news website, announced it on Tuesday.
Gabriele passed away "after a long illness," leaving behind a wife and three children, the website said.
In October 2012, a Vatican court sentenced Gabriele to 18 months in jail for aggravated theft but after two months Benedict XVI gave him a pardon.
Gabriele was later given a job at the Bambino Gesu, the Vatican's children hospital, Vatican News noted.
Gabriele stole documents from Benedict XVI's private office which ended up in a tell-all book by Italian investigative journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.
The book, entitled His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI, chronicled alleged cronyism and corruption behind the pontiff's back in what became known as the VatiLeaks affair.
The scandal cast a shadow over the final months of Benedict XVI's papacy, who announced his shock resignation - the first by a pope in nearly 600 years - on February 11, 2013.
Australian Associated Press
