What really made Pope Benedict XVI resigns ?

Did a Cross-Dressing Priest Sex Ring
Bring Down Benedict XVI?

Of all the rumors floating around about just why Pope Benedict XVI is hanging up his camauro, one has taken on a life of its own. According to several well-placed vaticanisti—or Vatican experts—in Rome, Benedict is resigning after being handed a secret red-covered dossier that included details about a network of gay priests who work inside the Vatican, but who play in secular Rome. The priests, it seems, are allegedly being blackmailed by a network of male prostitutes who worked at a sauna in Rome’s Quarto Miglio district, a health spa in the city center, and a private residence once entrusted to a prominent archbishop. The evidence reportedly includes compromising photos and videos of the prelates—sometimes caught on film in drag, and, in some cases, caught “in the act.”

Pope says will resign on Feb 28

He says that his strengths, due to an advanced age,
are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of
the Petrine ministry.

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday he will resign on Feb 28 because his age prevented him from carrying out his duties, an unprecedented move in the modern history of the Catholic Church.

“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” the 85-year-old pope told a meeting of cardinals.

“In order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me,” he said.

Pope sacks Slovak bishop in rare show of authority

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The pope fired a 52-year-old Slovak bishop on Monday for apparently mismanaging his diocese in a rare show of papal power over his bishops.

Usually when bishops run into trouble — either for alleged moral lapses or management problems — they are persuaded by the Vatican to resign. But Pope Benedict XVI has become increasingly willing to forcibly remove bishops who refuse to step down, sacking three others in the last year alone.

His willingness to do so raises questions about whether he would take the same measures against bishops who covered up for sexually abusive priests. So far he has not.

Pope criticizes profit-seeking, says his image of heaven is his childhood in Bavaria

By Colleen Barry of Associated Press

MILAN - Pope Benedict XVI celebrated an open-air Mass on Sunday for a million followers, capping three days of activities in Milan aimed at showing support for the family.

Fitting his theme of strengthening the institution, the pope recalled the night before his own childhood in Germany in a house filled with music, big Sunday lunches and shared liturgical readings to strengthen the family faith.

"To tell the truth," the pope said, responding to a question about his youth from a young Vietnamese girl during a meeting with families Saturday night, "if I try to imagine a little how it will be in heaven, it seems to be the time of my youth, of my childhood."

Pope Benedict Likely To Allow Breakaway SSPX to Rejoin Church

Pope Benedict XVI is about to heal a rift with the Society of St. Pius.Zoom
AFP

Pope Benedict XVI is about to heal a rift with the Society of St. Pius.

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to allow the Society of St. Pius X, a controversial, ultraconservative splinter group, back into the Catholic Church, it is learned. But Holocaust denier Richard Williamson, an SSPX bishop, opposes the agreement, which is likely to be reached before the end of May.
Info

Earth Day 2012: Quotes On The Environment from Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict has not been shy in regards to issues of the environment. He has spoken frequently about everyone's right to food, right to water and responsible sharing. He has spoken about the real meaning of progress and development and what that means for our planet of limited resources. He has discussed climate change, the connection between science and nature, and how the path of cultivating peace is directly linked to protecting creation.

These quotes are taken from a new book published by Our Sunday Visitor called: The Environment by Pope Benedict XVI.

Frail Pope Benedict, 85, contemplates to resign

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he makes his "Urbi et Orbi"
(To the city and the world) address from a balcony in
St. Peter's Square in Vatican April 8, 2012.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict marks two milestones this week and while his health appears stable, signs of frailty have again prompted speculation over whether he will be the first pontiff in seven centuries to resign.

Benedict, one of the oldest popes in history, turns 85 on Monday, and on Thursday he marks the seventh anniversary of his election as successor to the immensely popular John Paul II.

Speaking to pilgrims and tourists in St Peter's Square on Sunday, he noted Thursday's anniversary and asked for prayers "so that the Lord may give me the strength to carry out the mission he has entrusted to me".

Pope Benedict, Saudi Grand Mufti warn of social networking

Pope Benedict

Pope Benedict XVI and Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti have called on their followers to “exercise proper discernment in the face of the surcharge of stimuli and data” on the Internet. The two religious leaders also urged followers to take social networking seriously and to understand these sources “should not” be the source of their knowledge.

Saudi Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said that followers must be wary of social media, including Facebook and Twitter, as “they do not know the source of those comments.”