ROME, October 3 – RAPSI. Former butler of Pope Benedict XVI Paolo Gabriele, accused of stealing documents from the pontiff's apartments, has refused to plead guilty, but feels ashamed that he let down Pope Benedict XVI.

On Tuesday, Gabriele spoke at the second hearing of the trial, which began in the Vatican last Saturday. The sentence may be passed by the end of the week. The former butler faces up to six years in prison.

"As for charges of theft under aggravating circumstances, I consider myself innocent. But what I do feel guilty of is that I betrayed the trust of the Pope, whom I love like a child," Gabriele said.

Personal secretary of the pontiff Georg Gaenswein testified as a witness. He said that he first began to suspect Gabriele when he saw journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi's book "His Holiness".

The secretary said that several letters were published in the book which only Gabriele had access to. Nuzzi's book, in which the author used fragments of correspondence between Benedict XVI and his secretary, was published last May.

The Vatican sees the book as encroaching on the personal life of the pope and has called it criminal.