Vatican News, the Holy See's media portal, said Mr Gabriele died on Tuesday after a long, undisclosed illness.

Mr Gabriele's case kicked off the first of two Vatileaks scandals, exposing the internal tumult and turf wars in the Holy See and allegations of corruption and wrongdoing at the highest levels of the Catholic Church.

Mr Gabriele was arrested in May 2012 after Vatican police found what they called an "enormous" stash of papal documents in his Vatican City apartment that he had stolen from the papal apartments.

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Gabriele is one of a limited number of people who have access to the Pope's private quarters. However his arrest was greeted with disbelief because he is known for his devotion and loyalty to the Holy Father.

Gabriele's former confessor is springing to his defence.

"He is in love with the Church and adores the pope", the priest, speaking anonymously to Vatican Insider said.

"I have known Paolo for many years. If the accusations against him prove to be true, there will be no one left to trust any more."

The priest's comments are being backed up by Italian media.

"No one thinks the butler was capable of orchestrating the 'Vatileaks' by himself and so the focus is on a higher, ecclesiastical level," wrote the Corriere della Sera under the headline "Vatican braces for new arrests."

"Maybe someone set up the butler by placing the documents at his house or maybe he was executing orders from higher up. When you are loyal you are also obedient."

"From what I know of him, he either suddenly became a madman or he fell into a trap because someone important convinced him to safeguard the documents," a friend, who also works at the Vatican, was quoted as saying on condition of anonymity, reports AFP.

"I spoke with Paolo on Monday night and he was saddened because a few hours earlier he learned that he was under investigation," the friend said.

"Since his arrest I have been constantly asking myself, if he had the documents and he knew that he was under suspicion, why didn't he destroy them?"

La Repubblica is reporting that a woman could have been to blame. "The butler speaks, the Vatican trembles, the chase for masterminds: There is a woman", the paper wrote in a headline.

The article continues, "A woman is among the moles in the Vatican, a secular one who works for the Apostolic Palace" where the pope lives. It described her as young married woman who also has a job outside the Vatican.

While news of Gabriele's arrest has filled pages of newspapers in Italy and beyond, to date, the Vatican's own newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano has ignored the story.

Gabriele's arrest came hot on the heels of the sacking of Vatican Bank president Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who has also been suspected of being behind the leaks.

Tedeschi was accused of failing to clean up the image of an institution that has come to symbolise the lack of transparency and the scandal gripping the Holy See's administration.

After a series of leaks, dubbed Vatileaks, revealed alleged corruption, mismanagement and internal conflicts, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI set up a special commission of cardinals to find the source of the confidential memos.

Sources

• BBC
• Rappler
• Vatican Insider
• La Republica
• Image: Huffington Post

Writing in National Catholic Reporter, John L Allen Jr outlines the evidence against him.

He then suggests motives behind the leaking of confidential information to the press, raises the possibility that Cardinal Bertone may be the target of a plot, and outlines the damage to the Vatican.

• Read John L Allen Jr's column
• Image: Emerging Truth

John L Allen Jr is NCR Senior Correspondent.