Vatican, July 22 (ANI): The Pope's jailed butler has been released from custody and placed under house arrest.

According to the BBC, the Vatican said that Paolo Gabriele would remain under house arrest pending a decision on whether he should face trial for leaking confidential papers to the media.

He was charged in May after a series of confidential papers leaks exposed alleged corruption and internal conflicts at the Holy See.Gabriele's lawyer Carlo Fusco said that his client had operated on his own in an 'act of love' towards the Pope.The so-called 'Vatileaks' scandal saw an Italian investigative journalist publish hundreds of secret documents on scandals, nepotism and cronyism within the Holy See.Italian media reported in May that a stash of confidential documents had been found in Gabriele's apartment.

There are definitely no networks, no internal or external plots in which Paolo was involved. His motivations were all internal, Fusco said.

The Vatican's judge, Piero Antonio Bonnet, has been instructed to examine the evidence of the case and to decide whether there is sufficient material to proceed with the trial.Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said a magistrate would decide whether to proceed by early August.

Italian media reported that if convicted, Gabriele could face a sentence of up to 30 years for illegal possession of documents of a head of state. (ANI)