A gay lobby indeed exists at the Vatican and may pose a threat to Pope Francis, a former commander of the Swiss Guard tells a Swiss newspaper. "I cannot refute the claim that there is a network of homosexuals," said Elmar Mader, a Guard commandant from 2002 to 2008, the Guardian reports. "My experiences would indicate the existence of such a thing." Mader said he took no issue with homosexuality, but believes that "many homosexuals are inclined to be more loyal to each other than to other people or institutions."
Should this loyalty became a network or secret society, "I would not tolerate it in my sphere of decision making," he said. "Key people in the Vatican now seem to think similarly." His remarks come two weeks after another former Guard member said he had received over 20 sexual requests from clergy, the Telegraph reports. "As the spinach and steak were served, the priest said to me: 'And you are the dessert,'" the ex-Guard member said. Now gay advocates like Franco Grillini, chairman of Gaynet, are taking issue with the reports: "Statistically, gays are the least violent group in human society, so if the pope were really surrounded by homosexuals, he could sleep easy." (More gays stories.)