Thursday, February 21, 2013

This Could Be a Smear, It Could Be a Conspiracy, or It Could Be a Clerical Tsunami - Gay Blackmail in the Vatican?

The Pope and the gay clergy scandal?

The Rome daily La Repubblica reports that Pope Benny's hasty departure from the Holy See could be linked to a network of gay prelates in the Vatican, some of whom were being blackmailed by outsiders.

The paper said the pope had taken the decision on 17 December that he was going to resign – the day he received a dossier compiled by three cardinals delegated to look into the so-called "Vatileaks" affair.

Last May Pope Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested and charged with having stolen and leaked papal correspondence that depicted the Vatican as a seething hotbed of intrigue and infighting.
According to La Repubblica, the dossier comprising "two volumes of almost 300 pages – bound in red" had been consigned to a safe in the papal apartments and would be delivered to the pope's successor upon his election.

The newspaper said the cardinals described a number of factions, including one whose members were "united by sexual orientation".
In an apparent quotation from the report, La Repubblica said some Vatican officials had been subject to "external influence" from laymen with whom they had links of a "worldly nature". The paper said this was a clear reference to blackmail.

It quoted a source "very close to those who wrote [the cardinal's report]" as saying: "Everything revolves around the non-observance of the sixth and seventh commandments."

The seventh enjoins against theft. The sixth forbids adultery, but is linked in Catholic doctrine to the proscribing of homosexual acts.

La Repubblica said the cardinals' report identified a series of meeting places in and around Rome. They included a villa outside the Italian capital, a sauna in a Rome suburb, a beauty parlour in the centre, and a former university residence that was in use by a provincial Italian archbishop.

Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said: "Neither the cardinals' commission nor I will make comments to confirm or deny the things that are said about this matter. Let each one assume his or her own responsibilities. We shall not be following up on the observations that are made about this."

12 comments:

Purple library guy said...

Wonder what the connection of the pope, and perhaps his secretary "Gorgeous Georg" Ganswein, might be to all this.

The Mound of Sound said...

Who knows what's going on? Ratzinger's resignation does fly in the face of Vatican doctrine.

"We all remember images of John Paul II bending over a microphone, squinting at the faithful and blessing them with all the energy he had. 'One does not come down from the cross,' his former secretary, Cardinal Dziwisz, is said to have quipped last week." - der Spiegel

Anonymous said...

God is gay.

kootcoot said...

An expose of Clergy on Clergy man sex would actually enhance the moral and ethical reputation of the Papist clergy, whom are currently regarded and kiddie molesters.

kootcoot said...

in "regarded and kiddie..."

"and" should be "as"

Dana said...

Once Ratzo is no longer Benedict and withdraws into seclusion he will die very soon. That news will not be made public for several years and the precise date of death may never be revealed. Means of death will most probably be poison - that's been the curia's modus preferendi.

There may well be a few dozen more deaths in and around vatican city over the next months...sudden unexplained and all within the walls.

The Mound of Sound said...

I was thinking along the same lines this morning, Dana, when I read in the Sydney Morning Herald that the priest who leaked the story of the gay corruption/blackmail dossier has been exiled to Colombia. How long, I wondered, will he last down there?

Dana said...

BTW, we were over your way this past week. Stayed at Tigh na Mara for what must be the tenth time or something. Bought some hats in Coombs. Poked around, went up to QB, fell in love and might decide to buy early.

The Mound of Sound said...

Sales over here have apparently slowed a bit lately. New construction is certainly in a slump. I've long since given up trying to read housing market tea leaves but I expect price volatility will be a lot greater in the Lower Mainland than it'll ever get over here. We simply don't fly as close to the sun.

It's not a bad place to live, Dana, if you can adjust to small town life. There is a sizeable minority who can't. Some leave quickly, others pack it in after five or ten years. Most of us, however, settle in fairly well.

Dana said...

Our favorite place on the planet is our cottage in Ontario in the village of Sturgeon Point. Neither Parksville nor QB come close to that village for quiet. :-) Plus there's that magnificent tidal flat to walk. We are looking forward to it.

The Mound of Sound said...

Jeebus, Dana, that was a shock. Sturgeon Point is now part of Kawartha Lakes City, itself the former Lindsay? WTF? I spent some time up there many years ago and it was idyllic. Still, I don't need screens on my windows and can count the number of mosquitoes each summer on one hand.

Dana said...

There's really only 3,000 people in the world y'know. All this talk of billions of us is just so much soshulust conspiracy.

Right on all counts. It's all going to be for sale soon enough though.

That's going to be very, very hard. My wife's great grandfather built the place and finished it in 1885. Many, many tears.