# Pope Forced Into Retirement By Secret Vatican Gay Sex Club, Paper Says **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 22, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108 "2013-02-22T20:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/21 "2013-02-23T19:28:24Z")
It’d be totally unbelievable if not for all the other RCC sex and money scandals. That’s not to say I believe this, but I couldn’t rule it out 100%. I think the claim here is not that some group of gay priests forced Benedict to resign, it’s that an internal report showed some of this stuff is going on and he’s resigning as a result. It’s been argued elsewhere that Benedict is frustrated with the state of church leadership and that he thinks someone else (meaning a younger Pope) would be more likely to have the energy and patience needed to clean house at the Vatican. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/22 "2013-02-23T19:42:02Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > a younger Pope) would be more likely to have the energy and patience needed to clean house at the Vatican. Yeah, he can call himself Pope Hercules, 'cause diverting a river is what it will take to clean out all the horseshit in that place. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/23 "2013-02-23T20:09:47Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > So gays are a bunch of sex-obsessed perverts who will go to the extremes of forming secret societies to infiltrate and destroy our cherished institutions. About 100 years ago in the US, it was all about the peverted Catholics that were digging a tunnel under the Atlantic to appear in Washington to infiltrate and destroy our cherished other versions of Christianity and, of course, take over the World. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/24 "2013-02-23T20:23:35Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > About 100 years ago in the US, it was all about the peverted Catholics that were digging a tunnel under the Atlantic to appear in Washington to infiltrate and destroy our cherished other versions of Christianity and, of course, take over the World. :dubious: Well, then, success I guess. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/25 "2013-02-23T21:41:00Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I doubt that the situation is as out of control as to warrant an expose (put the silly mark over the second ‘e’). Okay. é ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/26 "2013-02-23T22:13:27Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I do sort of like the idea of a Gay Leather Bar in one of the Vatican catacombs. I can almost see them rushing to the dance floor to go crazy during Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way!” I’d think they would prefer “Bad Romans” much more… ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/27 "2013-02-23T22:32:26Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > As a gay man I’m furious about this accusation. Furious!!!.. that I never got to go to this club ☹ That’s because the first rule of Gay Vatican Sex Club is: You don’t talk about Gay Vatican Sex Club. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/28 "2013-02-23T22:40:47Z")
Don’t forget the corruption exposed when the butler released some of the Pope’s private papers. The Pope pardoned the guy. I tend to see the butler as a whistle blower who was trying to help. Thats probably why the Pope pardoned him. I agree a younger, firm hand needs to take charge and clean up this mess. > [@Marley23](#): > > It’d be totally unbelievable if not for all the other RCC sex and money scandals. That’s not to say I believe this, but I couldn’t rule it out 100%. I think the claim here is not that some group of gay priests forced Benedict to resign, it’s that an internal report showed some of this stuff is going on and he’s resigning as a result. It’s been argued elsewhere that Benedict is frustrated with the state of church leadership and that he thinks someone else (meaning a younger Pope) would be more likely to have the energy and patience needed to clean house at the Vatican. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/29 "2013-02-23T22:48:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I agree a younger, firm hand needs to take charge and clean up this mess. So priests have said to choirboys for a few generations now. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/30 "2013-02-23T22:48:57Z")
This recent Washington Post article on the butler is very interesting. The Pope’s ex butler still a mystery: > [@](#): > > Those public missteps frustrated many of Benedict’s supporters. But Gabriele proved to be more bothered by internal conflicts and turf wars that he thought undercut the pope’s fledgling reform efforts. He became aware of those internecine battles as he read, and absconded with, the pope’s private correspondence in an office he shared with Benedict’s private secretary. He later leaked those documents to an Italian reporter, who compiled the letters into a blockbuster book that triggered the VatiLeaks scandal. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/31 "2013-02-23T23:15:45Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Yes, it certainly makes a lot more sense that an 85 year old man would retire because of a sex scandal than just because…he’s 85 freaking years old. Wel, Cialis isn’t all that effective at that age, and the altar boys are getting faster, so… ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/32 "2013-02-23T23:19:09Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Yes, it certainly makes a lot more sense that an 85 year old man would retire because of a sex scandal than just because…he’s 85 freaking years old. [Quitter.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/33 "2013-02-24T01:51:05Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > [To paraphrase Tom Lehrer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAOwYDlEQXo): “And everybody hates the gays.” But during National, um, _Brotherhood_ Week… ---
**Author:** ![BlueMit11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@BlueMit11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueMit11)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/34 "2013-02-24T02:47:04Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Let’s not waste a once-in-four-hundred-year opportunity. > Let’s leak a story that says that _those people_ forced our beloved _papa_ out of office! It’s none of us who think of him as “our beloved papa” who are saying this. Here are some fair and balanced (damnit, can’t use that phrase…eh…somewhat objective) takes on it: > **[Homosexual network at the Vatican, Yes; reason for the Pope's resignation, No](https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/homosexual-network-at-vatican-yes-reason-for-popes-resignation-no/)** > > 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... [http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/thoughts-vaticans-gay-lobby](http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/thoughts-vaticans-gay-lobby) Just so you have it right: There’s a Courtyard for the Gentiles, but probably not a Lobby for the Gays. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/35 "2013-02-24T03:09:52Z")
Its pretty hard to believe that anyone would be shocked by homosexual groups existing within the Curia, let alone someone who has actually lived in the Vatican and headed up the organization charged with monitoring the clergies sexual improprities since the 80’s. So the idea that the Benedict was shocked into resigning by such revelations seems extremely unlikely. That said, I can believe that the wider Vatilinks investigation uncovered that the Curia was more corrupt in general then he had thought, and the idea of them taking de-facto control as he drifted into senility suddenly became a lot less palatable, and that that caused his resignation. Sexual politics might’ve been a small part of that, but it almost certainly wasn’t primary. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/36 "2013-02-27T22:44:36Z")
here’s the down low on the pope according to this guy > **[Leading Catholic Blogger Sees More Evidence That The Pope Is Gay](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/leading-catholic-blogger-sees-more-193122726.html)** > > He'll share a house with the "George Clooney of the Vatican." ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/37 "2013-02-27T23:51:42Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > here’s the down low on the pope according to this guy > > [Leading Catholic Blogger Sees More Evidence That The Pope Is Gay](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/leading-catholic-blogger-sees-more-193122726.html) Executive summary: 1. The old Pope and the new Pope will be sharing a secretary. 2. Andrew Sullivan’s apparently infallible gaydar is on high alert. “But what resonates with me the most is a theology that seems crafted from solitary introspection into a perfect, abstract unity of belief. It is so perfect it reflects a life of withdrawal from the world of human relationship, rather than an interaction with it.” Solitary introspection is now proof that someone is gay? Seriously? And the only reason to associate with another person is for sex? But if you don’t associate with anyone and instead become a solitary introvert, that’s sex too! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/38 "2013-02-28T01:58:14Z")
I like Andrew Sullivan and all, but this is based on nothing. He’s gay and Catholic, so he has the superhuman ability to identify closeted gay Catholics I guess. To point out the obvious- who else is Benedict going to spend time with? He doesn’t have a wife and children and you’d expect most of his close friends would be within the Vatican. (He does have an older brother in Germany.) That being said, it’s true that he’s chosen almost the weirdest and most awkward possibly living arrangement. I don’t know what he’s thinking here. The Vatican is going to have sort of an _Everybody Loves Raymond_ thing going on until he dies. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/39 "2013-02-28T02:05:41Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t know what he’s thinking here. The Vatican is going to have sort of an _Everybody Loves Raymond_ thing going on until he dies. Presumably if he moved out of the Vatican, he might be pursued in the Courts of whereever he moved to due to his part in the child-abuse cover-ups. Or alternatively, he’s 85 and has lived in the Vatican for the last 30 years. Its possible he just comfortable there and doesn’t feel like trying to cope with a new hometown in his twilight years (a common fear amongst the elderly, I’ve noticed). But yea, the Sullivan article is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108/40 "2013-02-28T02:08:32Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Presumably if he moved out of the Vatican, he might be pursued in the Courts of whereever he moved to due to his part in the child-abuse cover-ups. That’s the explanation that comes to mind. > [@](#): > > Or alternatively, he’s 85 and has lived in the Vatican for the last 30 years. I hadn’t realized that. Still, keeping most of his titles and clothes and even the same secretary is an odd choice for someone who is relinquishing power. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-forced-into-retirement-by-secret-vatican-gay-sex-club-paper-says/651108.md?page=3)