Pope nfirms 'gay lobby' at work at Vatin | AP News

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In private remarks to the learship of a key Lat Amerin church group, Pope Francis lamented that a "gay lobby" was at work at the Vatin. It was an apparent reference to allegatns the Italian media that blackmail was takg place wh the Vatin agast high-rankg prelat who are gay. The Lat Amerin and Caribbean Conferatn of Relig — the regnal anizatn for prits and nuns of relig orrs — nfirmed Tuday that s lears had wrten a synthis of Francis' remarks after their June 6 dience. The group, known by s Spanish acronym CLAR, said was greatly distrsed that the document had been published and apologized to the pope. In the document, Francis is quoted as sayg that while there were many holy people the Vatin, there was also a current of rptn. "The 'gay lobby' is mentned, and is te, is there ... We need to see what we n do ..." the synthis reads. The Vatin spokman, the Rev. Feri Lombardi, said Tuday the dience was private and that as a rult he had nothg to say. In the days leadg up to Pope Benedict XVI's Feb. 28 rignatn, Italian media were rife wh reports of a "gay lobby" fluencg papal cisn-makg and Vatin policy through blackmail, and suggtns that the sndal had led part to Benedict's cisn to rign. The unsourced reports, the Rome daily La Repubbli and the news magaze Panorama, said tails of the sndal were laid out the secret dossier prepared for Benedict by three tsted rdals who vtigated the leaks of papal documents last year. Benedict left the dossier for Francis. At the time, the Vatin nounced the reportg as famatory, "unverified, unverifiable or pletely false." The ial reportg has never been precise on what exactly was meant by a "gay lobby," but Repubbli and Panorama went beyond sayg there was merely a homosexual subculture at the Vatin. Rather, they raised allegatns that high-rankg prelat were beg blackmailed bee they were gay. On Wednday, Italian gay rights groups nounced the reportg of the entire affair as sensive and homophobic. "That prits have sex wh other men don't thorize anyone to speak about a gay lobby, bee we're not talkg about a group that reprents the terts of the homosexual muny but rather a group that is an tegral part of a power stcture — the Vatin — which is vlently homophobic," said Fran Grilli, print of Gay rights group. Francis' remarks on the matter, as reported by the CLAR learship, were published Tuday Spanish on the progrsive Chilean-based webse "Reflectn and Liberatn" and picked up and translated by the blog Rorate Caeli, which is read Vatin circl. In the synthis, Francis was quoted as beg remarkably forthg about his admistrative shortgs, sayg he was relyg on the group of eight rdals he appoted to lead a reform of the Vatin burecracy. The document quoted him as sayg: "I am very disanized, I have never been good at this. But the rdals of the missn will move forward." In s statement, CLAR said no rerdg had been ma of Francis' remarks but that the members of s learship team — a half-dozen men and women — together wrote a synthis of the pots he had ma for their own personal e. "It's clear that based on this one nnot attribute wh certaty to the Holy Father sgular exprsns the text, but jt the general sense," the statement said. ___ Text of the CLAR synthis is at Text of the CLAR apology is at ___ Follow Nile Wfield at