Pope Benedict XVI has attributed his shocking and unprecedented resignation to age and poor health, but another reason, according to an Italian newspaper La Repubblica, is a secret report that details corruption and gay sex in the Vatican.
According the Italian media report: a team of three cardinals were asked by Benedict to verify allegations of financial impropriety, cronyism and corruption exposed in the so-called VatiLeaks affair. In December, they handed the pontiff a large portfolio of papers which was “an exact map of the mischief and the bad fish” inside the Holy See, La Repubblica said.
“It was on that day, with those papers on his desk, that Benedict XVI took the decision he had mulled over for so long,” said the centre-left newspaper.
It said its article was the first of a series, Daily Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi refused to “run after fantasies and opinions” and warned reporters: “Don’t expect comments or rebuttals of what is being said on this issue.”
The Italian newspaper said that the report shocked Pope Benedict and contributed to his decision to resign.
