An Italian newspaper is claiming that the historic resignation of Pope Benedict XVI is linked to an internal investigation that discovered several Gay clergy inside the Vatican who were being blackmailed by outsiders.

According to la Repubblica, the Pope last year appointed a panel of three Cardinals to investigate the so-called “VatiLeaks” scandal of leaked Vatican documents that purport to expose corruption, intrigue and underhanded factional fighting.

By December, they handed the Pope a two volume, 300-page report bound in read which after examining, Benedict reportedly had placed in a safe to be given to his successor.  His decision to resign came after a few weeks of deliberation, and is designed to end the factional fighting and other scandals.

The newspaper account describes one of these fighting factions as having special meeting places including a beauty parlor in central Rome, a sauna in a Rome suburb, and the residence of a provincial Italian Archbishop.  The blackmailers aren’t known yet.

The Vatican spokesman said there would be no comment on the explosive story, and described it as “fantasies and opinions”.