Prominent Catholic blogger speculates Pope Benedict is 'secretly gay'

A prominent Catholic and gay blogger, Andrew Sullivan, has renewed speculation that the outgoing Pope Benedict may be secretly gay, a report has said.

The Dish's Andrew Sullivan wrote a post titled Two Popes, One Secretary, after it was announced that Benedict will not go into hidden retirement but will instead continue living in the Vatican with trusted secretary Archbishop Georg Gaenswein.

"So Benedict's handsome male companion will continue to live with him, while working for the other Pope during the day," Sullivan wrote.

"Are we supposed to think that's, well, a normal arrangement?" he added

According to the Huff Post, in a past column, Sullivan concluded that it 'seems pretty obvious' that 'the current Pope is a gay man.'

He called him a person who has not 'explored his sexuality, or has violated his own strictures on the matter.'

Sullivan's column is more grist for the Vatican's gay rumour wheel, coming on the heels of a bombshell article in Italian paper La Repubblica, which claimed the pope's resignation was influenced by a damning internal document that reportedly cited powerful lobbying influences in the Vatican, including a gay lobby, the report said.

La Repubblica detailed other points from the alleged dossier, including the claim that a gay underground network organized sexual meetings of members at venues across Rome and Vatican City, it added.