Big Gay Headaches For Pope Benedict

The Pope’s headed into hostile territory.

His holiness, Benedict XVI will soon board a flight to Sydney, where he can expect more than a few gay gray clouds. As we informed you earlier this week, pious gays are planning to protest the Catholic leader whose anti-gay attitudes help maintain the Church’s archaic homophobic “traditions.” That movement will culminate with a “Second Coming Out” when homos of all denominations declare themselves part of the more general “church.”

Sure, the demonstrations may be a bit embarrassing for Benedict, but they’re hardly the worst of Benedict’s problems…

Via NY Times:

Australia’s top Roman Catholic cleric reopened an investigation Thursday into a 25-year-old sexual abuse case, revisiting a scandal two days before Pope Benedict XVI arrives for a visit.

Cardinal George Pell, the archbishop of Sydney, referred the case to an independent panel, the church said in a statement, after nearly a week of media reports that questioned Pell’s earlier handling of the case.

Pell came under fire earlier this week for a 2003 letter he sent to Anthony Jones in which he dismissed Jones’ complaint of rape against Father Terrence Goodall despite a church investigation that upheld the allegations.

Pell said Tuesday that his 2003 letter was ”badly worded” but stood by his conclusion that no rape had occurred. He said he based his decision on Jones’ age at the time of the alleged rape — he was 29 — and Goodall’s insistence that the act had been consensual.

Australian media aired recorded conversations this week in which Goodall confesses that his encounters with Jones were not, in fact, consensual. Pell says that he’s willing to organize counseling and compensation for Jones, who has asked for more than $3 million.

As he did during his trip to the States earlier this year, Pope Benedict’s expected to express his remorse over the widespread sexual abuse.