Report: Pope resigned in wake of gay priest scandal
Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY4:51p.m. EST February 22, 2013
Pope transfers top official amid speculation about report on Vatican leaks scandal.



(Photo: Gregorio Borgia AP)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS


Three cardinals reportedly discovered an underground network of gay priests
Pope Benedict announced Feb. 11 he would resign Feb. 28
The Vatican will not comment on the reports of the cardinals' investigation
The Italian media is reporting that Pope Benedict XVI resigned after receiving the results of an internal investigation, delivered in a 300-page, two-volume dossier, that laid bare a sordid tale of blackmail, corruption and gay sex at the Vatican.


The respected Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported Friday that the report stamped "Pontifical Secret," contained "an exact map of the mischief and the bad fish" inside the Holy See.

The newspaper said the findings of the nine-month investigation, headed by Spanish cardinal, Julian Herranz , with the assistance of Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, former archbishop of Palermo, and Slovak cardinal Jozef Tomko, was delivered to the pope on Dec. 17, 2012.

"It was on that day, with those papers on his desk, that Benedict XVI took the decision he had mulled over for so long,'' the newspaper said.

La Repubblica said the panel drew upon "dozens and dozens" of interviews with bishops, cardinals and lay people. It said the pope was kept apprised of the investigation in weekly meetings from April until December. The final, bound in red leather, is being kept in a safe in the pope's Vatican quarters, the newspaper said.

A similar story was carried by Panorama, a conservative weekly.

"What's coming out is a very detailed X-ray of the Roman Curia that does not spare even the closest collaborators of the pope," respected Vatican expert Ignazio Ingrao writes in Panorama. "The pope was no stranger to the intrigues, but he probably did not know that under his pontificate there was such a complex network and such intricate chains of personal interests and unmentionable relationships."

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, has refused to comment on the reports.

"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,'' Lombardi said, according to the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur.




Pope Benedict XVI embraces children during a visit at the Fazenda da Esperanca, a facility for recovering drug addicts, on May 12, 2007, in Guaratingueta, Brazil. Franco Origlia, Getty Images Fullscreen

Next Slide


In announcing his resignation Feb. 11, Benedict said that he no longer had the "strength of mind and body" to carry on. A conclave will select a new pope next month.

Lombardi has indicated that Benedict would meet with the three cardinals before stepping down Feb. 28, in one of his final private audiences.

La Repubblica reported that the pope would personally hand the confidential files to his successor, with the hope he will be ''strong, young and holy'' enough to take the necessary action.

The investigation was triggered last May when the pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested and charged with having stolen and leaked papal correspondence that depicted the Vatican as a hotbed of intrigue.

The papers were published in a blockbuster book. The butler was convicted in October of aggravated theft, and later pardoned.

The three-man panel, according to La Repubblica, discovered an underground gay network whose members organized sexual meetings in several locations, including a villa outside Rome, a sauna in Rome's Cuarto Miligo distirct and even in a beauty salon inside the Vatican.

The gatherings, in turn, left them open to blackmail from people outside the Vatican, the report said, according to the newspaper.

La Repubblica quoted an unidentified man described as ''very close'' to the authors of the dossier as saying it contained information about violations of the sixth and seventh commandments, which forbid adultery and stealing.

The British newspaper, The Guardian, notes that the sixth commandment also "is linked in Catholic doctrine to the proscribing of homosexual acts."

The U.S. website, The Daily Beast, reports that investigative journalist Carmello Abbate went undercover with a hidden camera in 2010 in Rome to produce an expose called Good Nights Out for Gay Priests.

The scandal has erupted as the pope is clearing the decks of his pontificate, tweaking the rules of the conclave, finessing the religious rites used to launch the next papacy and making some eyebrow-raising final appointments before he retires next week.

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said in editions published late Friday that Benedict had signed a decree earlier in the week making some changes to the papal installation Mass, separating out the actual rite of installation from the liturgy itself.


Vatican Undersecretary for the Relations with States, Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, arrives for a press conference at the Vatican in July.(Photo: Domenico Stinellis, AP)
He is also studying the text of a separate document governing the rules of the conclave, though it's not known if it will address the thorny issue of whether the election can begin earlier than March 15, by some interpretations the earliest the vote can start under the current rules.

And on Friday, the Vatican announced Benedict had transferred a top official in the secretariat of state, Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, to Colombia.

Some of the documents leaked in the midst of the "Vatileaks" scandal concerned differences of opinion about the level of financial transparency the Holy See should provide about the bank, the Institute for Religious Works. However, Balestrero himself wasn't named in any significant way in the leaks.

Lombardi said Balestrero's transfer had been months in the works, was a clear promotion and had nothing to do with what the Vatican considers baseless reporting.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/22/pope-leaks-fallout/1938321/

Road to nowhere. Go get life.

JudismphD: Road to nowhere. Go get life.

Am I USAToday? Why Insulting me, hypocrite?

JudismphD: Road to nowhere. Go get life.

Lol...

manny4life:

Lol...

Of course we'll see you here smiling like the jackazz we know you to be.

No go face Eko Ile wey dey take you mop floor left, right and center.

Why do you always show ur face only where hypocrisy and lies are being told?

kingoflag:

Of course we'll see you here smiling like the jackazz we know you to be.

No go face Eko Ile wey dey take you mop floor left, right and center.

Why do you always show ur face only where hypocrisy and lies are being told?

Why are you unnecessarily bitter and angry? Was I talking to you?

Biko carry yourself and move over... haba, can't I just be Manny on this forum

How did this homos make it to priesthood, sef?

why the catholic faithful angry here? you should be aware that the vatican habours the highest criminals in the world and even your pope is not exempted. he was a former Nazi member.

Shine your eyes

manny4life:

Why are you unnecessarily bitter and angry? Was I talking to you?

Biko carry yourself and move over... haba, can't I just be Manny on this forum

Lmaooooo Bitter and angry? Punk ho you came in this thread as usual with your hypocritical self still smarting from the e-slaps Eko Ile gave u.

Deal with the issue at hand. Discuss why the Pope resigned and hop off my nuts you fhagot.

hahaha I like that term Eko Ile used to describe u... *fhagot*... it fits u aptly. Freaking confusionist. I wonder how u bloody monkeys were raised where u cant ever say the simple truth.

Anyway, talk about why Priests were digging young boys in the booty for almost 2 centuries and leave me the hell alone.

Fhagit.

mankand: why the catholic faithful angry here? you should be aware that the vatican habours the highest criminals in the world and even your pope is not exempted. he was a former Nazi member.

Shine your eyes

Notice only dumb Africans are still defending a man whom Billions of his fellow caucasians have deserted to his fate.

The African....

Can always be trusted on to tell lies, be hypocritical, and dumb at the same time.

Hehehe, they are everywhere. What an infested world we live in.

He was the one distributing horsemeat around Euro zone

The catholic priests are known to have a gay ring of cabals that feast on little boys.. This news isn't surprising..

The question is when will the authorities do something about it? Nonsense

kingoflag:


Lmaooooo Bitter and angry? Punk ho you came in this thread as usual with your hypocritical self still smarting from the e-slaps Eko Ile gave u.

Deal with the issue at hand. Discuss why the Pope resigned and hop off my nuts you fhagot.

hahaha I like that term Eko Ile used to describe u... *fhagot*... it fits u aptly. Freaking confusionist. I wonder how u bloody monkeys were raised where u cant ever say the simple truth.

Anyway, talk about why Priests were digging young boys in the booty for almost 2 centuries and leave me the hell alone.

Fhagit.

LOL... QUIT BEING BITTER AND ANGRY, EVERYONE ISN'T AS FRUSTRATED AS YOU OR EKO ILE THE person

LIFE HAS MORE TO OFFER THAN CONSTANT BITTERNESS...

One thing I've come to understand, those who accuse others of faggotery, are damn right DL, look to yourself and then look at the name you call me, then you have your answer.

You say I should talk about the topic and leave you alone, but duh, just like the person, you quoted me and same u is asking to be left alone

You have NEVER worth my time, your reasoning isn't even there yet, now you see why I hardly notice a human is talking but a dog barking.

I'll let you continue your barking, that's what you're good for...

Silence is the best answer for a fooll, and silence is golden..

Seriously, I'm not surprised.
This dirty, hypocritical religion comes with colorful secrets.

Must we believe everything we read? I don't believe it one bit. Rumours, rumours, rumours. Sensationalism is just a way for a news outlets all over the world to grab the attention of the public and expand its base.

manny4life:

LOL... QUIT BEING BITTER AND ANGRY, EVERYONE ISN'T AS FRUSTRATED AS YOU OR EKO ILE THE person

LIFE HAS MORE TO OFFER THAN CONSTANT BITTERNESS...

One thing I've come to understand, those who accuse others of faggotery, are damn right DL, look to yourself and then look at the name you call me, then you have your answer.

You say I should talk about the topic and leave you alone, but duh, just like the person, you quoted me and same u is asking to be left alone

You have NEVER worth my time, your reasoning isn't even there yet, now you see why I hardly notice a human is talking but a dog barking.

I'll let you continue your barking, that's what you're good for...

Silence is the best answer for a fooll, and silence is golden..

Lmaooo

All this because dem catch Priests dey hammer young boys booty inside Vatican? Why you dey vex for me? Are you a priest or am I USAToday?

Bros, abeg face front cus I wont waste time reading past the first two lines of your looney diatribe.

visionbiafra: Must we believe everything we read? I don't believe it one bit. Rumours, rumours, rumours. Sensationalism is just a way for a news outlets all over the world to grab the attention of the public and expand its base.

Yeah, because you think say na SunNews or one of those crazy Naija papers with hungry unprofessional journalists write am.

Lol...

Dancing Gangnam style

Shioor

I remember about two weeks ago when I made the statement below to the hypocritical female version of Manny4lies (not like the punk---going by his bityych tendencies--- , as can be seen on this post, is much of a man either):

kingoflag: But you trust those Preachers whom, FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS +, and up until this day, ra.ped innocent lil boys entrusted in their care. Same Preachers that preach vehemently against homosexuality but didn't hesitate to force the an.uses of lil boys open while pretentiously claiming to be pastors and missionaries. From Latin America to Africa all the way to North America, Asia and Europe, story is still the same---vile men clutching the Bible while gripping the waists of boys (some as young as six years old) as they deprived them of their manhood and innocence. You trust those ones abi? You really think the Pope is resigning his post because of that "Health" excuse he gave us all, right? Hahaha if only you have an idea how many of your fathers and Grand Fathers were an.ally ra.ped by those pedo.philes posing as Missionaries. Personally, I'd rather get blown up by a terrorist.

Smh the overly sensititive, ultra religious African is indeed no different than a wild Hyena when it comes to critical thinking. I really feel sorry for a lot of you. You're so lost you couldn't even find your nose even if was placed in ur palm.

https://www.nairaland.com/1197692/buhari-tinubu-drop-presidential-ambition/4#14352908

This one is high level madness

Dancing Azonto...

manny4life: This one is high level madness

Dancing Azonto...

Lmaooo

This dude, do you have a pen.is or a vag.ina? Are you on your period? Right now youre like a person than wasnt invited to a party, but insists on dancing with the celebrant in the middle of the dance floor. And you dare talk of madness?! lmaooo Anyway sha, na you talk say you dey dance azonto, no be me. Look at ur 1st post till now... typical... goad, prod, irritate... then when you get some sense slapped into your flat head you start trying to acting innocent.

Are you ok in the head? Why are you trying to derail the thread? Are you the Pope? Are you a Priest? But your pathetic, looney, hypocritical African self is doing everything in your might to derail a thread based on a subject even white people are distancing themselves from. But, like the typical African that has embraced another's beliefs, you lack integrity and will lie even if God himself stood in front of you. Didnt your Bible preach against homose.xuality? So whats your grouse? Why do you guys revel in worshipping men? Are you more Holy and Knowledgable than the Pope himself who has chosen to distance himself from this scandal by resigning?

Gawwd, the hypocrisy of a certain sect of black men will never cease to amaze me. Everything about you is always filled with lies and deceit. Can you speak the truth for once, u demon? Before we know now, you go encourage your family make dem stand for sun make each person vote 15,000 for a re.tard that'll do nothing but drag the rest of the country back just because your myopic self hates the religion and language of the better qualified man.

Abeg move and go play in traffic. Bloody hypocrite.

Bros, you will run mad o.. hmm

Leave me alone, haba

manny4life: Bros, you will run mad o.. hmm

Leave me alone, haba

Wooow....

You do realize that, no matter how you deceive urself, you cant deceive others....

I MADE THE POST AND YOU FOLLOWED ME HERE LIKE THE FHAGIT EKO ILE CALLED YOU and youre telling me to "leave you alone"?

Lmaoo is this flat headed dunce okay? Dude, are you alright? Are you a priest? Are you in the business of ana.lly rap.ing innocent little boys? Why is this topic bothering you so bad?

Madness gone to a different level

manny4life: Madness gone to a different level

I wont be surprised one day when we see you in one of those D.C/Maryland Newspapers for being arrested as a stalker. Youre really displaying those tendencies. E be like say booty market don spoil for you thats why you rue this article.

Chai, madness level 2

Still

manny4life: Chai, madness level 2

Still

Ok, its now clear that youre a fa.g! Eko Ile was right! I mean, even biyytches wont act like the ultimate biyytch which ure portraying. Dude, bounce abeg biko:


WHATEVER YOUR PLANS ARE, I AM NOT INTERESTED!!! I LIKE WOMEN!

Gawdd! Not even white people are as upset as this fahgit.

Nna man, see frustration

It shall be well... AMEN