The Pope and the 'Gay Lobby' The presence of gay prelates in the Vatican hierarchy has long been considered one of Rome's open secrets. Now it's not a secret at all. At a private audience on June 6, Pope Francis was quoted as saying: "The "gay lobby" is mentioned, and it is true, it is there...We need to see what we can do." The fascinating remark, which the Vatican did not deny, obviously lacks larger context, and demands considerable elucidation. It's not even clear whether the Pope meant "gay lobby" as a pejorative or not. But if nothing else, it was refreshingly candid. However much official church doctrine may rail against the so-called "homosexual lifestyle," how could gays not have a noticeable presence in such a large and catholic organization as the Roman Catholic Church? The term "gay lobby" dates at least to February and a melodramatic round of speculative news stories in Rome about inner-sanctum power struggles featuring Vatican leaks that may or may not have wearied the previous Pope, Benedict XVI, into surprise retirement. Francis, thought to be chosen as something of a reformer, appeared to allude to this in his reported remarks: "In the Curia [the Vatican's administrative bureaucracy], there are also holy people, really, there are holy people. But there is also a stream of corruption, there is that as well, it is true. The fragmented remarks do not suggest where on such a spectrum the Pope might locate gay prelates. Are they open to victimization and blackmail? Are they a potent faction, progressive or not? There is no clear answer so far. But one of the more respected Vatican correspondents, John Allen Jr. of the National Catholic Reporter, cautioned, "there's no reason to believe now that Francis is on the cusp of launching an anti-gay witch hunt." To the contrary, the new Pope seemed to be advising the faithful to relax while he gets the hang of the Vatican. "I am very disorganized, I have never been good at this," he reportedly said. At the same audience, Francis was quoted as downplaying the Vatican's current scrutiny of religious orders for violations of orthodoxy. This is a heated issue in the United States where Pope Benedict, in what seemed a chauvinist excess from the Vatican's male hierarchy, ordered an investigation of the leadership of American nuns. These sisters have actually been one of the church's moral bulwarks during the child abuse scandal by male clergy. "But do not worry," the new Pope was quoted as telling the visiting religious about such dramatic Vatican inquiries. Explain whatever you have to explain, but move forward.