With only 4 days left until the departure of Pope Benedict XVI, rumors continue to surge for the reasons of why he is resigning as the Pope, and having legal immunity as long as he stays within Vatican City.

The newest rumor is that a group of influential gay men are allegedly blackmailing a group of homosexual members of the clergy.

It all started with the famous "Vatileaks" which revealed the secrets of the Pope and the Vatican.

The Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" which has been closely following the resignation of the Pope, have taken the task of investigating the alleged evidence of Church members and their sexual preferences. News that supposedly was given to Pope on December 17, the day he decided to resign.

This is not the first time that the Catholic Church is involved in some sort of sexual scandal, where back in 2004 a lot sex abuse cases were made public in the United States that caused a public outcry.

Italian news media program "Panorama" also revealed the name of a sauna where the alleged gay meetings took place, and due to these allegations, the Pope decided to resign.

Next Thursday is the last day of Benedict XVI as the Pope, but before this happens he will meet with the Cardinals who are involved in this scandal.

The scandals and rumors that surround the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI are many, which are extremely serious and very controversial. However, the official reason for his resignation is that the Pope is too tired to continue with his work as a "representative of God on earth."

Joy.Ruvalcaba@sandiegored.com

Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com