If you’ve been following reports of Pope Francis allegedly asserting in a meeting that yes, a “gay lobby” exists in the Vatican, you may be interested in this perceptive analysis from John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter. He writes:
It should be stressed that the reports in the air today are based on leaked notes from the meeting with Francis, and the Vatican has refused to confirm or deny their content, so we don’t actually know what the pope said. Nonetheless, because the “gay lobby” business is back in the headlines, I’ll repeat here what I said in February.
Bottom line: It’s no secret there are gays in the Vatican, and it’s reasonable to think officials would be concerned that insiders with a secret to keep might be vulnerable to various kinds of pressure. The issue, in other words, isn’t so much their sexuality, but rather the potential for manipulation anytime someone serving the pope is leading a double life. That said, there’s also no evidence this was the “real” reason Benedict quit just as there’s no reason to believe now that Francis is on the cusp of launching an anti-gay witch hunt.
Read his column in its entirety here.