Pope visits jail to pardon ex-butler over 'Vatileaks'

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AFP - Getty ImagesFormer Vatican butler Paolo Gabriele meets Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican City prison Saturday, as seen in this handout photo released by the Osservatore Romano.By ReutersVATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict made a surprise pre-Christmas visit to the jail holding his former butler on Saturday and pardoned him for stealing and leaking documents that alleged corruption in the Holy See.

Follow @NBCNewsWorld  The pope and Paolo Gabriele spent about 15 minutes together before Gabriele was freed and allowed to return to his family in their Vatican apartment, a Vatican spokesman said.

Gabriele was convicted of aggravated theft on Oct. 6 in a case that shone unwelcome publicity on the Vatican and had been serving an 18-month sentence in a jail cell in the city state's police headquarters.

"This was a paternal gesture towards a person with whom the pope shared his daily life for several years," Father Federico Lombardi, a spokesman, said.

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