Vatileaks: Pope's former butler 'faces four years in prison' The trial will take place in a wood-panelled courtroom which features a ceiling embossed with a papal coat of arms, leather-upholstered chairs for the three lay judges, and a crucifix on the wall. A metal detector at the entrance is one of the few concessions to modernity. The judges, wearing black robes with golden braiding, will open the trial "in the name of His Holiness, Benedict XVI." There will be no jury. Mr Gabriele has told the Italian media, including the journalist to whom he allegedly leaked the confidential papers, that around 20 people in the Vatican helped him steal the documents, in a scandal that has been dubbed "Vatileaks." But the Catholic hierarchy has denied that he is part of a grand conspiracy and only one other person will appear by his side in court - Claudio Sciarpelletti, a computer expert in the Vatican secretariat of state who is accused of aiding and abetting the butler and risks up to a year in prison. "This is an unprecedented, absolutely unique trial," Prof Carlo Cardia, a historian of the Catholic Church, told La Repubblica newspaper. A papal aide has never been accused of such serious things, at least not in the last few centuries. The only comparable case was in 1971, when four employees of the Vatican's telephone exchange were accused of stealing pontifical medals from the papal apartments. The Vatican court normally deals with around 30 minor trials a year, the vast majority concerning petty crime such as bag-snatching and pickpocketing among tourists in St Peter's Square. The theft of the documents is the most serious crime to rattle the Holy See since 1998, when the commander of the Swiss Guards and his wife were shot dead. But that never came to trial because the alleged murderer, a young Swiss Guard, shot himself dead within minutes of carrying out the double killing. Mr Gabriele has already confessed to the thefts through his lawyers and is expected to be convicted. He would serve his sentence in an Italian jail, because the Vatican does not have its own prison. The Pope could grant Mr Gabriele a pardon at any time, although that is not expected to happen until the trial has run its full course. Prof Giovanni Giacobbe, a Vatican legal expert, said it was impossible to predict how long the trial might last. In the past, some trials have concluded on the same day, while others have lasted two or three months. "If he confesses and collaborates, the judges will take that into account in their sentence," he said. Until his arrest in May this year, the butler was one of Benedict's most trusted aides, nicknamed "Paoletto" by those in the Pope's inner circle of retainers and private secretaries. He has told investigators that he regarded himself as an "agent" of the Holy Spirit acting to help Benedict by exposing "evil and corruption" in the administration of the Vatican. He is said to be worried about the effect the trial will have on his three children. "At the moment Paolo's main concern is for his children, above all the distress in their lives caused by the media impact (of the case)," a source close to the family told the Italian news agency Ansa. Many of the stolen papal documents appeared to undermine and discredit Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state and de facto prime minister. He has accused the media of sensationalising the scandal in seeing power struggles and high-level conspiracies where, he said, there were none. A pool of eight Vatican-accredited journalists will cover the trial, but television cameras and audio recording devices will be banned from the courtroom.