VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture
By Phil Lawler February 22, 2013
Is there a network of homosexual clerics working within the Vatican? Undoubtedly, Yes. Was the discovery of that network a major factor motivating Pope Benedict to resign? Undoubtedly, No.
Rome is abuzz with reports about a story that appeared in two Italian publications, La Repubblica and Panorama, alleging that in a confidential report to Pope Benedict on the “Vatileaks” scandal, three cardinals said that one faction within the Vatican bureaucracy was “united by sexual orientation” and could be subject to blackmail. The story—which has quickly spread around the globe—goes on to speculate that the cardinals’ report, submitted in December, shocked the Pope and prompted him to resign.
Nonsense.
Before we analyze the reports, let’s pause for a moment and notice how little hard evidence has been presented. All of the hundreds of speculative reports now circulating in the mass media are based on two Italian news stories. Those stories, in turn, rely on the reporters’ assertions, unsupported and unconfirmed, about the contents of the “Vatileaks” report. For all we know those assertions could be completely groundless. Even if they are (more or less) accurate, they could be highly exaggerated. The allusion to a homosexual network might have occupied just a few paragraphs in a voluminous final report. We don’t know.
Is it probable that in there investigation of the “Vatileaks” scandal, the three cardinals found evidence of homosexual activity among officials of the Roman Curia? Absolutely! As the veteran American Vatican-watcher John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter put it, “frankly it would be a little surprising if they hadn’t.”
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