Vatican Denies Gay Blackmail Rumors

NewsMax ^ | 02/23/2013

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The Vatican on Saturday accused the Italian media of spreading "false and damaging" reports in what it condemned as a deplorable attempt to influence cardinals who will meet in a secret conclave next month to elect a new pope.

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."

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I am sorry-—sometimes I am a real skimmer. I will admit that I do make mistakes on occasion. I try not to be sloppy-—but time is a major problem.