Paolo Gabriele

Paolo Gabriele, the papal assistant, has been accused of aggravated theft, a crime that under Vatican laws is punishable with a prison term of one to six years, a Vatican judge said.

Paolo Papanti-Pelletier, the judge, said under a Vatican treaty with Italy, a person sentenced to jail time by a Vatican court would serve his term in an Italian prison.

The judge said that while Gabriele remains detained in a small room in the Vatican police station, he was allowed to attend Mass June 3 in an unspecified Vatican church.