Paolo Gabriele, butler of Pope Benedict XVI (pictured), was released from custody and placed under house arrest on Saturday pending a ruling on whether he will stand trial on charges he stole confidential documents from the Vatican.

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REUTERS - The pope’s personal butler, who has been detained on suspicion of leaking documents alleging corruption in the Holy See, acted alone and was not part of any wider plot, his lawyer Carlo Fusco said on Saturday.

Separately, Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said the butler, Paolo Gabriele, had been released from preventive custody and placed under house arrest following a seven hour interrogation on Saturday.

Gabriele was charged in May over illegal possession of secret documents and has been held in a secure room at the Vatican police station awaiting a decision on whether he is put on trial.

Lombardi said a magistrate would decide soon whether to order Gabriele to stand trial.

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