Vatican police have arrested Pope Benedict XVI's personal butler following an investigation into the leaking of sensitive church documents, it emerged today. In a scenes worthy of a Dan Brown thriller, the butler identified as Paolo Gabriele, 46, was held by gendarmes after a special commission of three top senior cardinals had been appointed by a furious Pope Benedict to identify the source of the leaks which have caused severe embarrassment. Gabriele, who has been at the Pope's side for six years, is one of the German born pontiff's closest members of his inner circle which totals just four lay people and four nuns and he is always at his side - he is so close that he and the nuns who look after him are described as the 'pontiff's family'. It is believed that Gabriele, who is known by the nickname Paoletto (little Paul) was held as he arrived for work at the Papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace behind St Peter's and tonight he was being held in custody - the first time in years the Vatican jail had been used. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said a man had been detained with 'documents in his possession' adding that he was not supposed to have them and he went on to describe him as 'a lay person and not a member of the clergy'. The arrest of Gabriele comes just days after author Gianluigi Nuzzi published a book on the leaked documents called Sua Santita (His Holiness). The Vatican had condemned the book as 'criminal' and the printing of the documents were a violation of the Pope's privacy it said.
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