Pope No. 2 attacks leaks, says Benedict undeterred
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Pope Benedict XVI's deputy denounced the continued leaks of Vatican documents Monday, and said the pope isn't intimidated by the "fierce" and "organized" attacks they represent.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, made his first public comments about the scandal in an interview with state-run RAI television.
Bertone's leadership has attracted much criticism, and many commentators see the leaks of confidential Vatican documents as an attempt to discredit him and force his resignation.
The scandal represents one of the greatest security breaches at the Vatican, with dozens of letters, memos and other documents from the pope's desk appearing in a new book "His Holiness," by Italian investigative journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.
The papers in "His Holiness" include letters to the pope and his private secretary, bank statements, and a handwritten memo the pope's personal secretary wrote in his native German about a meeting with a member of the disgraced Legion of Christ.
The documents expose episodes of political infighting, intrigue and accusations of corruption and homosexual liaisons going on under the watch of the 85-year-old Benedict.
Taken together with other leaks that have emerged in the Italian press in recent months, they paint a picture of the church's governance in disarray.
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