Morning Catholic must-reads: 02/08/12

A lawyer representing Paolo Gabriele has said that the papal butler is unlikely to be fully acquitted if he appears before a Vatican court.

Fighting between rebels and the Syrian army has broken out in the Christian quarter of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.

An official at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru has claimed that Opus Dei provoked the Vatican into taking disciplinary action against the university.

The Catholic Church in Haiti has accused the police and courts of incompetence as the country suffers from a sharp increase in violent crime.

Matthew Bunson reviews the potential leading candidates at the next conclave.

David Timbs asks whether former Fox News journalist Greg Burke can keep Vatican officials “on message”.

Fr Robert Sirico argues that the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises and Karol Wojtyła had a lot in common.

And Sandro Magister ponders the strange case of the new prelate overseeing the Vatican bank.

For updates throughout the day follow me on Twitter @lukecoppen