Vatican condemns leaks as blackmail The admission from Roman Catholic Church came as Vatican prosecutors questioned for the second consecutive day Paolo Gabriele, the Pope's butler, who has been accused of stealing the papes. The papal spokesman rejected claims the Pontiff's butler had implicated two or more cardinals in a growing scandal. Fr Lombardi said news paper reports that the two cardinals were part of a network of moles who stole and leaked compromising documents, made in several newspapers on Wednesday, were "without foundation." The spokesman insisted that for the moment the butler is the only person being investigated in the scandal, which has provided a rare glimpse into high-level feuds and jockeying for power within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Rome. Many of the leaked documents appeared to be aimed at discrediting Cardinal Bertone, the Pope's deputy, and toppling him from power. Mr Gabriele, 46, was arrested two weeks ago after investigators allegedly found a cache of stolen papers in his Vatican apartment. If found guilty of theft, he would lose his Vatican apartment and could be "exiled" from the Holy See, the Italian press reported. Mario Monti, the prime minister, spoke out about the scandal for the first time, saying he was sorry for the pain that the "Vatileaks" affair had caused the 85-year-old German pontiff. "Certainly I am surprised and profoundly saddened by what I've read of the Vatican affair," Mr Monti told Famiglia Cristiana (Christian Family), a Catholic magazine. But I also think about the very deep pain that many people are suffering, and of the pain that it has caused to the heart of the Holy Father. No clear motive has emerged for why the butler would betray the Pope and in doing so risk his job, his home, his pension and his role as a trusted member of the Pope's inner circle. The butler, whose job was to attend the Pope first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and to accompany him in his white "Pope-mobile," risks six years in prison if he is found guilty of stealing the documents. He is being held in one of four "security rooms" inside the headquarters of the Vatican Gendarmerie, the city state's tiny police force. Many of the leaked documents were published last month in a book by an Italian investigative journalist, entitled "His Holiness - The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI." It has since become a best-seller.