Britain's Top Catholic Cardinal Keith O'Brien Resigns Amid Gay Allegations, Won't Vote for Next Pope

Over the weekend, Steve reported that three priests and a former priest in the United Kingdom have accused anti-gay Cardinal Keith O'Brien of what The Observer reports as "inappropriate behaviour" involving the men. The newspaper lists the claims by the four (referred to as Priests A, B, C & D) which go back 33 years.

The Cardinal had responded that he would contest the claims and take legal action.

Now, it appears, he is stepping down, the Telegraph reports:

The most senior Catholic cleric in Britain, Cardinal Keith O'Brien of St Andrews and Edinburgh, has been forced to resign ahead of schedule following allegations that he made homosexual advances to younger clergy in his diocese – and isn't now expected to attend the conclave to elect the next Pope. There will now be no Briton in the Sistine Chapel when voting takes place. O'Brien's early resignation is believed to have been at the personal insistence of Benedict XVI, in one of his last acts as Pope.

The Cardinal denies the allegations, whose publication has been carefully timed – but his decision will remind the cardinals meeting in Rome next month that allegations against its clergy have now permeated the entire institution.

The next Pope's first priority must be to restore confidence in the sexual probity of the Church. Who on earth is going to be able to do that?

Yes, who on earth is going to be able to do that?

Vatican Issues Denial Of 'Gay Lobby' Reports

Earlier this week, two Italian newspapers, The Panorama weekly and The Repubblica, both reported that Pope Benedict had resigned from his post due to "various lobbies, including a gay lobby." The Vatican has now responded - and they are none too pleased with the reports and the Italian media.

The Guardian reports:

The Vatican secretariat of state said in a statement: "It is deplorable that as we draw closer to the time of the beginning of the conclave … that there be a widespread distribution of often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories that cause serious damage to persons and institutions."

According to The AFP, which calls today's statement by the Vatican "unusual," Catholic Church spokesman Federico Lombardi has also commented calling the reports "gossip, disinformation and sometimes calumny."

The Pope will officially step down this Thursday.

Report: 'Gay Lobby' Within Vatican Influenced Pope's Resignation

Pope Benedict's dismay at an internal report on "various lobbies, including a gay lobby," exercising "inappropriate influence" within the Vatican, influenced his resignation, according to La Repubblica via the Irish Times:

The newspaper suggests that such was Benedict’s dismay when presented with the details of the report on December 17th that it hardened his long-meditated decision to resign. The internal report prepared by Cardinals Julian Herranz, Josef Tomko and Salvatore De Giorgi had been commissioned by Benedict himself...

...In this morning's article, it is claimed that the cardinals reported that various lobbies within the Holy See were consistently breaking the sixth and seventh commandments, namely "thou shalt not steal" and "thou shalt not commit adultery".

The "stealing" was in particular related to the Vatican Bank, IOR, whilst the sexual offences were related to the influence of an active gay lobby within the Vatican.

Past reports begin to make sense in light of the news:

La Repubblica claims the cardinals' 300 page report speaks of "Impropriam Influentiam" on the part of various lobbies, some of them of a "worldly nature", reflecting an "outside influence". The Rome daily recalls the figure of papal gentleman, Angelo Balducci, accused three years ago of being a member of a gay ring active within the Vatican and involving choristers and seminarians.

Do you think the Vatican's gay lobby was responsible for this?

Vatican to Shield Pope from Arrests Over Sexual Abuse Till He Dies

Why is the Pope going to live in the Vatican after he retires?

Protection, according to Reuters:

The final key consideration is the pope's potential exposure to legal claims over the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandals.

In 2010, for example, Benedict was named as a defendant in a law suit alleging that he failed to take action as a cardinal in 1995 when he was allegedly told about a priest who had abused boys at a U.S. school for the deaf decades earlier. The lawyers withdrew the case last year and the Vatican said it was a major victory that proved the pope could not be held liable for the actions of abusive priests.

Benedict is currently not named specifically in any other case. The Vatican does not expect any more but is not ruling out the possibility.

"(If he lived anywhere else) then we might have those crazies who are filing lawsuits, or some magistrate might arrest him like other (former) heads of state have been for alleged acts while he was head of state," one source said.

And he can travel into Italy too:

The 1929 Lateran Pacts between Italy and the Holy See, which established Vatican City as a sovereign state, said Vatican City would be "invariably and in every event considered as neutral and inviolable territory".

There have been repeated calls for Benedict's arrest over sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

America's Best Christian Mrs. Betty Bowers Won't Be the Next Pope: VIDEO

Although Pope Benedict is resigning because he's "too pooped to Pope" Mrs. Betty Bowers won't be stepping in to fill his Prada shoes.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Stephen Colbert Thought the Pope Was Coming Out of the Closet: VIDEO

After all, he hasn't had a girlfriend in so long.

Colbert looks at the slacker Pope's retirement, AFTER THE JUMP...