Pope Benedict XVI reveals Vatican’s ‘gay clubs’ in bombshell secret book

Pope Francis defended homosexuality after the Vatican’s “openly gay clubs” were revealed in a book by Pope Benedict, to be released after his death.

A stunning rift in the Catholic Church has been revealed after the deaths of Australian Cardinal George Pell and his ally Pope Benedict XVI, who released a secret, posthumous book slamming the Vatican’s support of priests forming “openly gay clubs”.

The late pontiff wrote the previously unknown book, “What Christianity Is”, in secrecy with instructions it only be published when he died, after criticising the “gay lobby” he has claimed sought to influence decisions in the Vatican.

“In various seminaries, homosexual clubs were formed which acted more or less openly and which clearly transformed the atmosphere in the seminaries,” Pope Benedict wrote.

Pope Benedict XVI, right, is greeted by Cardinal George Pell, left, upon his arrival in Sydney, in 2008. Picture: AP

The 190-page tome warns of “radical manipulation” and “distortion of the sexes by gender ideology” in the name of tolerance, leading to the “vast collapse” of the priesthood under the tenure of his progressive successor, Pope Francis.

Pope Francis on Tuesday (local time) became the first Pope ever to directly address laws criminalising homosexuality, saying being gay is “not a crime”, adding: “Yes, but it’s a sin,” he said. “Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime.”

While Pope Francis did not directly address Pope Benedict’s fresh attacks from beyond the grave, the landmark interview with Associated Press comes just days after the secret book’s publication confirmed the long-speculated civil war between factions within the Vatican.

Benedict’s close ally, Australian George Pell, was also revealed as working behind the scenes against the “politically correct” leadership of Francis, which he called a “disaster” and a “catastrophe”.

After his death, Pell was outed as the secret author of a bombshell memo in 2022 that slammed Francis for embracing LGBT ideology, female priests and communion for the divorced.

Pope Benedict XVI, left, has his hand kissed by Cardinal George Pell, in 2008.

Pope Francis with Australian cardinal George Pell during a private audience at the Vatican. Picture: AFP

But Benedict’s latest salvo between the warring factions goes much further with explicit, never-before-revealed detail of the machinations by individual bishops and seminaries, particularly in the United States.

One American bishop, Benedict alleged, allowed his trainee priests to watch porn as an outlet for their sexual urges, “presumably with the intention of rendering them capable of resisting behaviours contrary to the faith”.

“There were individual bishops, and not only in the United States, who rejected the Catholic tradition as a whole, aiming in their dioceses to develop a kind of new, modern catholicity,” Benedict wrote.

“Perhaps it is worth mentioning the fact that, in not a few seminaries, students caught reading my books were considered unfit for the priesthood. My books were concealed as harmful literature and were read only in secret, so to speak.”

Yesterday an absolute bombshell was released, something completely unprecedented in the history of the Catholic Church. No English speaking news outlets have discussed it, and I believe we are witnessing mass media censorship. Benedict XVI published a posthumous book pic.twitter.com/XjDTC0rITP

— V 𓁼 (@pope_head) January 23, 2023

That “harmful literature”, Benedict’s 2016 memoir The Last Conversations, alleged that a “gay lobby” in the Vatican had tried to influence his decisions before his retirement in 2013.

While Benedict wrote in 2016 that the group of “four or five” was dismantled before his retirement, Francis was quoted as confirming in a private meeting the continued existence of the so-called “gay lobby”, which Catholic website Cruz described that year as separate from a politically motivated group agitating for change.

“In effect, what Vatican-watchers mean by a ‘gay lobby’ is a network of gay clergy who protect one another’s secrets and try to help one another inside the system,” they said.

Pope Benedict gave strict instructions that his latest book not be published until after his death, saying he wanted to spare himself “and Christendom” the firestorm he knew it would cause.

Cardinal George Pell meets with Pope Francis during the Pope’s Audience with Cardinals on 15th March 2013.

“For my part, in life, I no longer want to publish anything,” he wrote.

“The fury of the circles against me in Germany is so strong that the appearance of every my word immediately causes a murderous shouting from them.”

He added that in one southern Germany seminary, “candidates for the priesthood and candidates for the lay office” lived together.

“During common meals,” Benedict continued, “the seminarians were together with married pastoral representatives, partly accompanied by their wives and children and in some cases by their girlfriends. The climate in the seminary could not help priestly formation”.

The Vatican has not officially responded to Benedict, but Pope Francis addressed the growing schism between bishops on the Catholic Church’s official stance on homosexuality.

“These bishops have to have a process of conversion,” he told AP about their need to welcome LGBTQIA+ parishioners into the church, adding they should apply “tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us.”

“We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity,” Francis said.

Originally published as Pope Benedict XVI reveals Vatican’s ‘gay clubs’ in bombshell secret book