Pope Francis says the leaking of sensitive Vatican documents is a "crime" and "a deplorable act" that will not stop him from moving forward with church reforms.
The leader of the world's Roman Catholics, in his first comments since two people suspected of leaking the documents were arrested last week, said "this sad fact will certainly not distract me from the work of reform that is moving ahead."
"Stealing those documents is a crime, it is a deplorable act that does not help," he said before tens of thousand of people at his Sunday blessing in Saint Peter's Square.
Information from the leaked documents was used for two books, "Merchants in the Temple" by Gianluigi Nuzzi and "Avarice" by Emiliano Fittipaldi. The books detail mismanagement and corruption in the Vatican and how some prelates are resisting the pope's financial and administrative changes in the Holy See.
Last week the Vatican arrested two people - a high-ranking Holy See official and an Italian woman who is a public relations expert - for allegedly leaking the documents.
Some material for this report came from AP, AFP and Reuters.
