Vatican plotters planted fake brain tumour story to derail Pope on gay rights
A senior cardinal has suggested that anti-gay conservative forces within the Vatican were responsible for planting a hoax story that the Pope has a brain tumour.
The Pontiff has been increasingly under pressure recently, issuing an unprecedented apology earlier this month, after a number of scandals over homosexuality rocked the Catholic Church.
Amid the instability surrounding the scandals and allegations of a Vatican ‘gay lobby’, claims were planted in an Italian newspaper suggesting that the Pope is being treated for a brain tumour. The Vatican promptly quashed the story, but rumours are now swirling that it was actually planted by the Pope’s opponents within the Church, who were hoping to call the Pope’s judgment into question and derail any movement on homosexuality at the Synod.
German cardinal Walter Kasper told the Telegraph: “It’s evident to me that some people don’t like this Pope. Maybe they were trying to influence us [in the Synod]. Certain people, both inside and outside the Church, are nervous about the outcome of the Synod.”
The Vatican’s own newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano has also reported the claims, adding that “the moment was chosen to reveal an attempt to raise a cloud of dust in order to manipulate.”
This comes amid a hurricane of controversies in the Vatican.
At the start of the month, the Church’s three-week-long annual Synod was disrupted when an official in the Vatican’s doctrine office came out as gay – and was promptly dismissed from his post.
There have also been a number of shocking insights to the Vatican this month, with one insider suggesting that a large number of priests are gay, while a second report shed light on the Church’s in-house ‘gay cure’ clinic for priests.
There is also a dispute over the Pope’s meeting with Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, with Davis’ lawyers, the Pope’s spokespeople and conservative bishops spinning three entirely different versions of events.
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17 Comments
john
October 25, 07:36its Sunday biko. I think 70% of rev. fathers are gay. they deny by taking the Lord’s missed call.
Pink Panther
October 25, 07:38Hehehee… Oh really
Mandy
October 25, 07:37For a people in the business of tending to the Lord’s Vineyard, there’s a lot of shady shady stuff that goes on in the Vatican. No transparency. Shame on them.
Tiercel de Claron.
October 25, 09:49Shady shady stuff like?
Dennis Macaulay
October 25, 07:57Shey I would have been a priest sef! My mom and I fought when I preferred Federal govt college to All hallows seminary!
Shey I would have been a priest now, quetly enjoying money in one big parish and having my fill of mass servers and catechism boys! Without anybody asking me about marriage!
Is it too late to join?
john
October 25, 09:42Never too late baby. But its better u screw ordinary boys than religious boys
ken
October 25, 08:11Lol. Smh
To be a priest no be beans my dear. My cousin spent 12yrs in seminary before being ordained! Its not like mummy and daddy churches of nowadays….
Btw whether u like it or yes, the catholic church is still the single richest, most populous and powerful religious entity. When the pope sneezes, it reverberates around the world. Thats why popes are very careful and meticulous about the causes the champion
Oluwadamilare Okoro
October 25, 08:19Politics in church …. Issorait.
Tiercel de Claron.
October 25, 09:44While I agree the tumor story was planted to cause some confusion,it has nothing to do with gay rights.
PP,what’s the source of this tale by the riverside?.
Btw,the Synod of Bishops just ended and they reached agreement on 19 issues to be presented to the Pope,maybe you should quickly go thru them.
Tiercel de Claron.
October 25, 09:47Oh,the synod was about the tone/approach to emerging family issues,not about rights or change in doctrine.
Tiercel de Claron.
October 25, 10:14Translating/Excerpts from the document:
Section 76
The section on homosexual unions was approved by a vote of 221-37.
The bishops strongly rejected the notion of same-sex marriages,declaring that they are not “even remotely analogous” to straight unions.But they also reiterated Church teaching that every person,regardless of sexual orientation,must be treated with dignity and respect and not subjected to “unjust discrimination.”
They said local churches shouldn’t be
pressured on the question of same-sex marriage,nor should international aid organizations make the acceptance of gay unions a condition of their financial help to poor nations.
Section 70.The section on unmarried couples living together was approved by a vote of 231-47.
The bishops acknowledged that some couples live together for financial reasons, sometimes while waiting for a more stable job and steady income,because “getting married is perceived as a luxury,”and many eventually ask for a church wedding.Others simply reject “the values of marriage and family.”
Whatever the situation,the Church should approach it constructively, and look to turn it into an opportunity to point couples to “the fullness of marriage and the family.”
Tiercel de Claron.
October 25, 10:17Section 84. The first section on the divorced and remarried was adopted by a vote of 187-72.
While not advocating that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics should receive
Communion,the bishops nonetheless declared
that the Church should figure out whether they can be included in any elements of Church life from which they are now excluded.
They also said that they should be more integrated into the life of the Church and not made to feel that they have been
excommunicated — not only for their sake,but for the sake of their children.
“They are baptized,they are brothers and sisters,and the Holy Spirit pours out gifts and charisms on them for the good of all,” the bishops wrote. “….taking care of these people is not a weakness in its own faith and its witness as to the indissolubility of marriage; indeed,the Church expresses its own charity through this care.”
Tiercel de Claron.
October 25, 10:21Section 27. The section on women was approved by a vote of 251 to 9.
Women the world over face discrimination,the
bishops declared, and their dignity must be defended and promoted. Sometimes motherhood is penalized; in some places,sterility is punished.
Women too often are victims of violence,especially within their own families,the bishops said,adding that sometimes this violence is in the form of abortion or forced
sterilization.They also decried the use of artificial insemination and surrogacy.
The bishops called on husbands to assume a larger share of family responsibilities,and suggested that “the desire for a child at any
cost has not resulted in happier or stronger family relations,but in many cases has actually exacerbated the inequality between women and
men.”
Finally,they called on the Church itself to involve more women in decision-making and in the leadership of some Church institutions.
Tiercel de Claron.
October 25, 10:27Going thru the document,one can see the synod was all about what it put out to be,the family.The family,the numerous problems that come with it and ways the Church can better tackle them.
It wasn’t about rights or doctrinal changes,as some may hope.
Of course,as in all organizations,there would be those who root for the old ways of doing things,those that propose radical changes and cooler heads charting a middle course.
Max
October 25, 09:46Church politics, tufia.
I just hope they don’t kill off this man.
Khaleesi
October 25, 14:00Tchueeewwwwwwwww….. Rolls eyes from the gates of the Vatican to the gaudy and flamboyantly attired queens of the recently concluded Vienna gay Pride … Let them keep trying to shore up the quickly crumbling walls of a quickly dying and soon to be irrelevant institution ….
Dickson Clement
October 25, 23:36I am yet to see the father that doesn’t DO’ or hasn’t DONE! Either homo(which is not always the case) or hetero’, still DOING is involved. Some things are better left alone. When I was a catholic, my friends will go to father’s house to suck dicks and get kinky fucks.. and quick cash!