Pope Benedict Forced To Resign

When Pope Benedict announced his resignation, he became the first pope to step down since Gregory XII in 1415. The papacy is considered a lifetime appointment; therefore, Pope Benedict's announcement set off a firestorm of rumors that the Vatican has been doing its best to combat.

Chief among these is that Benedict resigned because his butler allegedly leaked classified Vatican documents. Other theories suggest that Ratzinger was pressured to leave because of how he handled the sex abuse scandals. Another more complicated theory surmises that internal gay sex scandals in the Church are about to become public knowledge... but we're still waiting on evidence for any of these claims.