Could a Vatican gay sex scandal be at the heart of the Pope’s historic resignation — the first such a circumstance in over 700 years?

Since the shocking news Pope Benedict was stepping down rocked the Roman Catholic world, suspicion that a looming, larger story was imminently to be discovered proliferated. But the potential Vatican gay sex scandal is a new theory, one posited in an explosive piece published in one of Italy’s newspapers today.

The possible Vatican gay sex scandal comes via Andrew Sullivan as posted in The Guardian, a UK paper which translated the report in its original Italian. What is suggested about the Vatican gay cabal sounds like the makings of an airport novel, and the British paper relays:

“A potentially explosive report has linked the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI to the discovery of a network of gay prelates in the Vatican, some of whom – the report said – were being blackmailed by outsiders. The pope’s spokesman declined to confirm or deny the report, which was carried by the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica.”

The report suggesting a Vatican gay scandal continues:

“The paper said the pope had taken the decision on 17 December that he was going to resign – the day he received a dossier compiled by three cardinals delegated to look into the so-called “Vatileaks” affair … The newspaper said the cardinals described a number of factions, including one whose members were ‘united by sexual orientation.’ “

The translated information concludes:

“In an apparent quotation from the report, La Repubblica said some Vatican officials had been subject to ‘external influence’ from laymen with whom they had links of a ‘worldly nature.’ The paper said this was a clear reference to blackmail.”

In the piece, The Guardian cites a source saying that much of the Vatican drama centers specifically around “the non-observance of the sixth and seventh commandments.”

This initial report is only a small bit of what appears to be a larger net of intrigue and warring factions inside Vatican City and may be linked to what the paper dubbed the “Vatileaks” scandal and the case involving the Pope’s butler and the aforementioned rumblings of blackmail.

Do you think a Vatican gay scandal could be behind the Pope’s shock resignation?