Pope Francis admits to ‘gay influence’ in VaticanLeader of the Catholic Church says the highly secretive Roman Curia is part of the 'gay lobby', which was claimed to be responsible for the resignation of Benedict XVI
11 June 2013 | By Joe Morgan
Pope Francis has admitted to the existence of a ‘gay lobby’ in the Vatican. According to sources cited by religious media today (11 June), the leader of the Catholic Church has said there is a ‘current of corruption’ in the Vatican’s administrative the Curia.
‘In the Curia, there are truly some saints, but there is also a current of corruption,’ the Pope is said to have said during an audience last Thursday with the Latin American and Carribbean Confederation of Religious Men and Women.
The pope has repeatedly said reforming the Roman Curia is a keystone of his papacy, but has said it would be ‘difficult’.
‘I cannot carry out the reforms myself,’ he said. In February, it was claimed Pope Benedict XVI had resigned because of the ‘gay influence’ within the Vatican.
Referring to an internal report prepared by three senior cardinals, Italian newspaper La Republica said there was an ‘inappropriate influence’ by gay priests in internal Holy See affairs.
The internal report was commissioned after the so-called ‘Vatileaks scandal’ by the former pope himself, which ended with the arrest and conviction of the Pope’s butler Paolo Gabriele last year. He was found guilty of having stolen confidential documents from the papal apartment. Despite believing ‘gay individuals need to be respected’, Francis has in the past compared gay adoption to child abuse and called same-sex marriage a ‘destructive attack on God's plan'.
