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In this file photo taken Wednesday, May, 23, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI, flanked by his butler Paolo Gabiele, delivers his blessing as he arrives at St.Peter's square at the Vatican for a general audience. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

The pope's once-trusted butler went on trial Saturday for allegedly stealing papal documents and passing them off to a journalist in the worst security breach of the Vatican's recent history, a case that embarrassed the Vatican and may shed some light on the discreet, internal workings of the papal household.

In its first hearing in the case, the three-judge Vatican tribunal threw out some evidence gathered during the investigation of butler Paolo Gabriele, who is charged with aggravated theft.

It also decided to separate Gabriele's trial from that of his co-defendant, a computer expert charged with aiding and abetting the crime.

Gabriele is accused of taking the pope's correspondences, photocopying the documents and handing them to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, whose book "His Holiness: The secret papers of Pope Benedict XVI," was published to great fanfare in May.

Prosecutors have said Gabriele confessed to taking the documents because he wanted to expose the "evil and corruption" in the church.

They quoted him as saying during an interrogation that he felt inspired by the Holy Spirit to inform the pope about the church's problems and that a "shock, even a media one, would have been healthy to bring the church back on the right track."

Nuzzi on Saturday wished Gabriele well, tweeting "Good Luck, courageous Paoletto, we're with you." He referred to Gabriele by the diminutive nickname used by the pope and other members of the papal household.

On Saturday, the court said the pope's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, had been called as a witness, testimony that is sure to attract attention given that Gaenswein rarely speaks in public much less about the details of the tight-knit papal family of which Gabriele formed part.

Other witnesses include one of the four consecrated women who take care of the pope's apartment, a monsignor in the Vatican secretary of state, the No. 2 Swiss Guard commander and the head of the Vatican police force.

Judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre set the next hearing for Tuesday, when Gabriele will be questioned. He said he thought the whole trial could be wrapped up in four more hearings.

Gabriele faces up to four years in prison if he is convicted. He has already asked to be pardoned by the pope, something most Vatican watchers say is a given.

Gabriele, a 46-year-old father of three, appeared calm but tense during the 2 hour, 15 minute hearing, frequently crossing his hands or clasping them in his lap. He wore a light grey suit and tie.

The attorney for co-defendant Claudio Sciarpelletti successfully petitioned to have his client's trial separated from that of Gabriele. Sciarpelletti wasn't in the court Saturday.