Italian media suggests Vatican lobbies pushed Pope to resign

It was with amusement that I read the comment of Ellenfromcork predicting the end of of the Catholic Church .She must be on the staff of the bigoted "Irish Times " !

The John Jay report that PiperMac52 cites was exposed by the press shortly after the bishops paid for and published the $8 million report. Homosexual priests are NOT "largely responsible for the sex abuse scandal(according to the Jay commission report." Pedophiles and their protectors in the Church are responsible for the sex abuse scandal. The John Jay report limited the category of pedophile victims to boys of pre-puberty age -- AND considered boys older than 10 years of age no longer in puberty and thus consenting partners in homosexual liaisons! That report is howling hypocrisy and scapegoating, and people are not likely to forget it soon.

ellenfrompork, citizenwhy, "and the gates of hell will not destroy it." I'd pay attention if Jesus was calling me out.

We ain't going nowhere cause Jesus said so, long ago... Mathew 16:18 amazing how Jesus knew about Prot. like Will Hamilton...

The Catholic Church Limited going bankrupt because they can't cover up the lies as well as they used to: excellent!

It's the beginning of the end of the catholic church as we know it. To everything there is a season

And I would add that the suppression of sexual expression, produces many forms of perversion. Pedophilia is one. Another is evidenced by the book prompted by Pope Innocent 111 - Malleus Maleficarum, 'The Hammer of Witchcraft.' It is impossible to read the description of tortures to be practiced on suspected witches (mostly women) and not recognize that torture itself is a cruel sexual perversion - a kind of snuff film, without the film.

Celibacy: as virtuous as constipation. Centuries of celibacy = centuries of hypocrisy and surreptitious sex, accompanied with the usual opportunities for blackmail, extortion and sexual bribery. Add to that the customary patriarchal structure's contempt for women, and much painful history is explained........

The homosexual subculture allowed to thrive within the church for decades and largely responsible for the sex abuse scandal(according to the Jay commission report over 80% involved post pubescent males), has and continues to cause the church irreparable harm. While the major news media ignores the real source.

Wow, this makes the mess at the Boy Scouts of America look like a Sunday picnic.

John Allen, writing for NCR online ("Thoughts on the Vatican's 'gay lobby'") thinks that the Vatican gays did not bring about the pope's resignation, but that too many in the Vatican were being pressured to leak damaging secrets to the press: "Here's why. In 2007, Msgr. Thomas Stenico in the Congregation for Clergy was suspended after being caught on hidden camera making contact with a young man posing as a potential 'date' in gay-oriented chat rooms, then taking him back to his Vatican apartment. In 2010, a 'Gentleman of the Pope' named Angelo Balducci was caught in a wiretap trying to arrange sexual hookups through a Nigerian member of a Vatican choir. Both episodes were highly public and caused massive embarrassment." 'Looks like Benedict XVI couldn't stop the risky financial and sexual behavior and lost heart with the continual bad press.

CitizenWhy There's much truth in your statement...In the past decades the church operated more like a multinational corporation protecting its assets, than Shepherds of men, protecting souls.

When you've made a decision to run a corporate version of the Roman Empire disguised as a church this is what you can expect.

Why should anyone be surprised? They're a corrupt bunch and it can't be said celibate.

"The cardinals' 300-page report, which paints a picture of a dysfunctional Holy See riven with financial, sexual and political improprieties, reportedly became the last straw for the pope...." I would have hoped that the last draw for the Pope would have been the rape of children and the many suicides around the world of victims of clergy sexual abuse who gave up hope that their stories would be believed of having been sexually abused by a priest. Instead this Pope was more interested in cover-up and in protecting the predator priests. I am very grateful that Pope Benedict XVI has finally resigned.