Vatican intrigue hits new level with leak denial

[WillParkinson]

Vatican intrigue hits new level with leak denial
By The Associated Press
02.09.2010 12:35pm EST

(Vatican City) The Vatican denied Tuesday that it leaked documents that led to the resignation of a prominent Catholic editor, intervening in a tale of ecclesiastical intrigue that has dominated Italian headlines for weeks.

The Vatican No. 2 issued a statement saying reports that Vatican officials leaked the documents were false and that Pope Benedict XVI himself “deplored these unjust and insulting attacks” that were “defaming the Holy See.”

The statement – unusual in its line-by-line denial of unsourced rumors – was confirmation that what had been a strictly Italian church scandal had reached the highest echelons of power in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace and that the pope clearly wanted to put an end to it.

The intrigue began last summer, when Il Giornale newspaper published reports based on what it said were court documents saying the editor of Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, had been involved in a harassment case several years ago with homosexual overtones.

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