The BBC's David Willey in Rome says the Bank of Italy's financial intelligence unit tipped off Italy's tax police last week, after two suspicious transactions were reported between the Vatican Bank and two different Italian banks.
The Vatican spokesman said the two spoke privately for 40-45 minutes, followed by lunch with the two papal secretaries, but no details were released.
One is Leo Scheffczyk, an aged theologian from Munich, the other, Walter Kaspar, at present number two in the Vatican department which deals with the separated Christian Churches.
The Vatican's constitution requires a two-thirds majority to elect a new pope.
Vatican investigators had Mr Gabriele assessed by two psychiatrists to ascertain whether he had mental problems.
And the Vatican also gave its backing to the two officials under investigation.
Vatican magistrates may have authorized the tapping of two or three telephone lines during the cardinals' inquiry into the leaks, Lombardi acknowledged Thursday.
Although objections came from some of his fellow cardinals, the pope did not restrain Ratzinger, in part because their friendship went back four decades, to the time when the two were young priests at the Vatican II meetings in Rome.
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Vatican magistrates may have authorized the tapping of two or three telephone lines during the cardinals' inquiry into the leaks, Lombardi acknowledged Thursday, responding to a report in the Italian weekly magazine Panorama that claimed a large-scale surveillance operation had been run.
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Two years had elapsed since the Second Vatican Council convened by Pope John XXIII in 1962, which set out to dismantle the charge that Jews were responsible for killing Jesus.
Sunday's meeting was a first for the Vatican, which had never hosted a prayer gathering of two leaders engaged in conflict.
Earlier, the Vatican had said a meeting would take place between the two.
Pope Francis has decided to shun a grand papal apartment on the top floor of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace in favour of a modest two-room residence.
Asked about the remarks, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said that ties between the two churches had been strengthened in recent years, especially during Pope Benedict's visit to Britain, and that they looked likely only to get stronger still.
The two dozen images adorn the walls of a sequestered Vatican bathroom.
On Monday, Christmas Eve Mass in the Vatican, usually celebrated at midnight, was brought forward by two hours to avoid tiring the 85-year-old pontiff.
Gabriele has appointed two lawyers of his choice to act at the Vatican Tribunal, and has had a chance to meet them, the Vatican statement said.
CNN: No cardinal suspected of pope papers leak, Vatican insists
Under new guidelines, the accused can have two defense lawyers -- one appointed by the Vatican, the other by the defendant -- to present his case.
Almost two-thirds of those surveyed thought that the Vatican was ready for an African pontiff, while more than 50% believed the church would become more conservative under an African pope.
Others concern poison pen memos criticising Carinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope's number two, and the reporting of suspicious payments by the Vatican Bank.
BBC: Vatican launches criminal probe into unauthorised leaks
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope was considering changes to two documents approved by his predecessor, but did not specify the possible alterations.
Putting scandal aside, the pope's last day in office has been carefully mapped out by Vatican aides who've had to make up the rules over the past two weeks.
The Vatican said Benedict was at the helipad in the villa gardens to welcome Francis, and that the two were meeting in Benedict's library and having lunch together.
Vatican staff have been preparing the Sistine Chapel, where the conclave will take place, installing the two stoves that will produce white smoke from burnt ballot papers when a new pope is elected.
In a December 2004 interview, the number-two official of Opus Dei, Monsignor Fernando Ocariz, a Spanish theologian who has served since 1986 as a consultor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal agency, explained that Escriva's understanding of the "universal call to holiness" had two dimensions, subjective and objective.
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