AN ITALIAN NEWSPAPER has claimed that Pope Benedict’s decision to resign was confirmed by the contents of an internal Vatican report which revealed significant adultery and theft problems within the Vatican.
La Repubblica says the Vatican report, chaired by Cardinal Julian Herranz and delivered to the pope in December, is reported to have uncovered details of an ‘underground’ gay network among Vatican and Holy See employees and officials, where members organised events around Rome and inside the Vatican itself.
The report, summarised by The Nation, adds that the members were prone to blackmail because of how their sexual orientation is frowned upon by the Church.
The authors of La Repubblica’s report said the information was “all about the breach of the sixth and seventh commandments” – referring to God’s commands that followers neither steal or commit adultery.
It is speculated that the reference to theft is a reference to the goings-on at the Vatican’s Bank, which was hit with accusations of theft and money-laundering that forced its chairman to quit last year.
The Vatican has insisted that the pontiff’s resignation, which takes effect next Thursday evening, was as a result of his increasing physical frailty which has left him needing motorised transport to travel the length of St Peter’s Basilica.
It has also been reported that Benedict was hurt in a fall while on a visit to Mexico last year.The 85-year-old had gotten up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and not being familiar with the room, stumbled and hit his head against a ceramic basin.
The Daily Telegraph cited Italian media as saying the pontiff was significantly shaken by the incident, the gravity of which only became fully known the next morning when he woke up to find his hair and pillow covered in blood.
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