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Pope Benedict Claims He Broke Up The Vatican's "Gay Lobby" In New Book

The former Pontiff still denies he was pressured to resign.

Former Pope Benedict XVI confirms the existence of a "gay lobby" within the Vatican in his historic upcoming memoir, The Last Conversations.

Benedict became the first pope in six centuries to resign when he stepped down amid the "Vatileaks" scandal in 2013, when his butler leaked personal documents that exposed corruption within the Catholic church.

At the time, it was rumored he was pressured by the so-called "gay lobby" to resign because his virulent opposition to the LGBT community was seen as harmful to the church.

In his book, due to be published Sept. 9, Benedict denies he was influenced to step down but asserts he dismantled the Vatican's "gay lobby."

Reuters reports:

In the book, Benedict says he came to know of the presence of a “gay lobby” made up of four or five people who were seeking to influence Vatican decisions. The article says Benedict says he managed to “break up this power group.”

Benedict's successor, Pope Francis, also confirmed the existence of a "gay lobby" inside the Vatican shortly after he was elected in 2013.

"The 'gay lobby' is mentioned, and it is true, it is there," he told the AP at the time. "We need to see what we can do."

However both Popes' claims were refuted last year by Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, a former Vatican priest who was fired after he came out publicly.

“I met homosexual priests, often isolated like me," Charamsa said at the time. "But no gay lobby."

h/t Advocate

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