CHICAGO (IL)
WLS
Chuck Goudie
February 24, 2013 (WLS) — As Chicago’s Cardinal Frances George and his cardinal colleagues begin arriving in Rome to replace the retiring pope, they find themselves gathering under a new, unexpected and ill-timed Vatican cloud.
Church leaders were caught off-guard a few days ago by an Italian newspaper report that stated Pope Benedict XVI was resigning after he learned of a gay-sex network operated by some of his highest ranking prelates.
Vatican officials have strongly denied that the pope was motivated by such a revelation, saying that his age and health caused him to become the first pontiff to abdicate in 600 years.
However, the Vatican has not issued a blanket denial that a blackmail-prone, gay-sex network was uncovered.
The report in La Repubblica states that top churchmen-including some unnamed cardinals who have a vote for the new pope-have been blackmailed by forces outside the Vatican. “Everything revolves around the non-observance of the sixth and seventh commandment” according to the newspaper, which is Italy’s largest-circulation daily.
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