'Pope's ex-butler spared jail, to serve time in house arrest'

Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict's former butler convicted of stealing sensitive documents, will serve his sentence under house arrest in his Vatican apartment while awaiting a possible papal pardon, his lawyer said today.

Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict's former butler convicted of stealing sensitive documents, will serve his sentence under house arrest in his Vatican apartment while awaiting a possible papal pardon, his lawyer said on Saturday.

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Cristiana Arru said the Vatican's promoter of justice, or prosecutor, had agreed to the conditions after a court handed down a sentence of 18 months.

Otherwise, Gabriele would have had to go to an Italian jail since the Vatican has no such facility.