On June 6 the leaders of the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious had an audience with his Holiness Pope Francis. During the audience members of the Latin American church group known by the Spanish acronym CLAR took "a written synthesis of Francis' remarks" which have been leaked to the media.
During the meeting between CLAR and Pope Francis it is reported that the Pontiff confirmed a "gay lobby" had been working within the Vatican. These claims were denied by Francis' predecessor Pope Benedict XVI before he retired at the beginning of 2013.
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ABC News reports that Francis talked about the majority of Holy people working within the Vatican but also mentioned corruption and referred to a "gay lobby" operating within the Vatican walls.
"The "gay lobby" is mentioned, the Pope is recorded as saying. "And it is true it is there. We need to see what we can do."
CLAR is outraged by the fact that the Pope's remarks which were made during a private audience were made public. The religious organization issued an apology to the Pope saying it,
"Deeply regrets the publication of a text referring to the conversation had with the Holy Father...On [June 6] did not record any of the conversation but soon developed a synthesis of it based on memories of the participants."
The apology goes on to say, "The synthesis which contains no questions asked [of] the Holy Father, was intended for personal memory of the same participants and in no way a publication."
In February 2013 when Pope Benedict announced his retirement the Italian media believed it was because of a large amount of gay sex scandals operating inside the Vatican. While the former Pope Benedict XVI cited health concerns as his reason for retirement, Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Panorama had other theories.
The unverified reports said that there was a web of gay priests operating inside the Vatican using blackmail to gain power and prominence within the Catholic Church.
According to the New York Times, "The reports said that a secret dossier compiled by three cardinals Benedict had asked to investigate a leaks scandal at the Vatican last year had revealed the network, which also included lay people who were ware of homosexual clerics inside the Vatican and who were in a position to blackmail them."
On Tuesday the official spokesman for the Vatican, Reverend Federico Lombardi told the media that there would be no official statement since the remarks the Pope made were done so in private.
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