Pope Benedict XVI's butler has been arrested and charged with illegal possession of secret documents following embarrassing leaks that exposed alleged intrigue and corruption in the Vatican, a spokesman has said.

Federico Lombardi said in a statement on Saturday that Paolo Gabriele, a layman who lives inside Vatican City, was arrested on Wednesday.

The Vatican said a wider investigation would take place to see if Gabriele, 46, had any accomplices that helped him leak the documents.

Al Jazeera's Emma Hayward reports.