Vatican leaks scandal widens as authors investigated, others suspected.

REUTERS/Tony Gentile.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A leaks scandal rocking the papacy widened on Wednesday as the Vatican put two Italian journalists under investigation and said it suspected other Holy See officials had helped two arrested for stealing documents.

The latest twist in the scandal came in a statement about the two journalists who wrote books based on the leaks. It said they were being investigated on suspicion of "complicity in committing a crime."

The leaks are one of the biggest internal scandals to hit the papacy of Pope Francis and were reminiscent of the "Vatileaks" furore that preceded the resignation of former Pope Benedict in 2013. The Italian media has dubbed the latest episodes "Vatileaks II".

"Investigators are also looking into the role of people who, because of their office positions (in the Vatican) may have cooperated in obtaining the confidential documents," spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in the statement, indicating that the scandal looked set to widen soon.

On Nov. 2, the Vatican announced the arrests of a high-ranking Holy See official and an Italian woman who works in public relations for allegedly leaking the documents to the authors of two new books.

Those arrested were members of a commission Francis set up several months after his election in March 2013 to advise him on financial and administrative reforms in the Holy See.


By Philip Pullella.
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