Vatican denies swirling rumors as pope prepares for final days

February 23, 2013 22:12

The Vatican sought Saturday to tamp down rumors involving sex, money and gay priests that have been swirling in the Italian media and have been linked by some to Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign.

The strongly-worded denial came on the eve of the pope's last Angelus blessing, expected to draw huge crowds of the faithful, before he stands down on Thursday.

Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said it was "deplorable" that as the time for the Roman Catholic cardinals to elect a new pope approaches, a rash of "often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories" has appeared.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Pant hands GT's Mohit unwanted T20 record

Before Pant it was Multan Sultans's Pakistan batter Usman Khan who held the record.

If my unopposed election is death of...: Surat winner

'The Congress is solely responsible for the situation that has arisen in Surat'

M&As pick up pace in Q1

The merger and acquisition (M&As) transactions have picked up pace in the March quarter of 2024 with 455 deals amounting to $25.6 billion deal value announced. This is a 24 per cent rise in deal volume as compared to Q4CY23, according...

Tesla's India factory plan may materialise in 2025

Tesla's plan to manufacture its affordable electric car priced at $25,000 in India and Mexico could materialise sometime in 2025 or thereafter, with Elon Musk declaring that these models would be produced at its existing factories to...

How Pant-Kuldeep teamed up to restrict Tewatia

While speaking at the post-match presentation, Kuldeep said he was "happy" at the win and added that the team knew it was going to be "tight" when the match went to the last over.