GAY LOBBY IN THE VATICAN ???????
Did The Pope Resign Because Of A Cross-Dressing Gay Priest Sex Ring?
Vatican Denies Gay Blackmail Rumors
Saturday, 23 Feb 2013 05:13 PM
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Since Pope Benedict announced his resignation on Feb. 11, Italian newspapers have been full of rumors about conspiracies, secret reports and lobbies in the Vatican that they say pushed the pope to abdicate, including a rumor that involved a shadowy "gay lobby" within the Vatican.
CNN Senior Vatican Analyst John Allen, who is also a correspondent with the National Catholic Reporter, cautioned that such unsourced speculation should be taken with a grain of salt.
While Allen said he doesn't know for sure whether a network based on sexual orientation was investigated by the Vatican, he said "frankly, it would be a little surprising if they hadn't" — given past scandals that have come to light.
Allen theorized that the Pope may have been worn down by the "cumulative impact of the various meltdowns over the last eight years" in a piece he wrote on Friday.
"It's probably a stretch to draw a straight line between all of this and Benedict's resignation," he said. "For the most part, one has to take the Pope at his word: He's stepping aside because he's old and tired, not because of any particular crisis."
The Vatican in its statement on Saturday said, "It is deplorable that, as we draw closer to the time of the beginning of the conclave ... that there be a widespread distribution of often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories that cause serious damage to persons and institutions."
The Italian reports have painted an unflattering picture of the Vatican's central administration, known as the Curia, depicting it as being full of prelates more concerned with their careers than serving the Church or the pope.
Some Church officials, speaking privately, have said foreign cardinals coming to Rome to choose the next pope have been alarmed over reports of corruption and might be inclined to elect someone not connected with the Curia, which is predominantly Italian.
The Vatican statement on Saturday said the Italian media reports were an attempt to influence the outcome of the conclave through negative public opinion much like states and kings tried to influence papal elections centuries ago.
The Pope has announced that he will step down on Feb. 28, becoming the first pontiff to abdicate in some six centuries.
The 85-year-old Benedict said his failing health no longer enabled him to run the 1.2-billion-member Roman Catholic Church as he would like.
In a separate statement, Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said the reports were trying to "discredit the Church and its government" ahead of the conclave.
Italy's Repubblica newspaper ran a series of unsourced stories this week about the alleged contents of a secret report prepared for the Pope by a commission of three cardinals who investigated the so-called Vatileaks scandal last year.
Paolo Gabriele, the Pope's butler, was convicted of stealing personal papal documents and leaking them to the media. He was jailed and later pardoned by the Pope.
The documents alleged corruption in the Vatican and infighting over the running of its bank, which has been at the heart of a series of scandals in past decades.
On Friday the Vatican denied Italian media reports that Benedict's decision to send a senior official to a new post in Latin America was linked to the secret report about leaked papal papers.
The Vatican said the transfer to Colombia of Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, an Italian who holds a post roughly equivalent to deputy foreign minister, was a promotion and had been decided weeks ago. Balestrero will be promoted to archbishop and made ambassador in Bogota.
Those reports said Balestrero was being sent away from the Vatican because he figured in the secret report.
On Saturday, as part of his last activities before his resignation in five days, Benedict ended a week-long Lenten spiritual retreat in the Vatican and held a farewell meeting with Italy's president.
On Sunday he will hold his last Sunday blessing. He will hold his last general audience on Wednesday and meet with cardinals on Thursday morning before he resigns on Thursday.
He will first go to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo south of Rome and then move to a convent inside the Vatican in April after the building is renovated.
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