Gay clubs operate openly in Catholic Seminaries, late Pope Benedict says.

A new book by the late Catholic pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI makes stunning claims about the Catholic Church under his successor, Pope Francis.

In the posthumously published book that is critical of Pope Francis's progressive agenda, the late Pope Benedict claimed that gay “clubs” operate openly in Catholic seminaries where men are prepared for the priesthood, according to a report by The Telegraph.

Pope Benedict said in his book that the existence of “homosexual clubs” is particularly prevalent in the US, adding: “In several seminaries, homosexual clubs operate more or less openly.”

He cited the example of an American bishop who allegedly allowed his seminarians, to watch porn films “presumably to render them capable of resisting behaviors contrary to the faith”.

Benedict said that the vocational training of the next generation of priests is on the verge of “collapse”.

Benedict, who died on Dec 31 at the age of 95, instructed that the book, entitled "What Christianity Is," should be published after his death.

The book is one of a handful of recent publications by conservative Vatican figures which have criticized the papacy of Francis, who was elected after Benedict's historic resignation in 2013.

According to John Allen, a top Vatican analyst who writes for Crux, the Catholic news outlet, the surge of new books contributes to “impressions of a mounting civil war in the Church following the death of Benedict XVI."

Benedict who was conservative on doctrinal matters in contrast with Francis’s approach complained that some elements in the Church viewed his previous books as dangerously traditionalist.

“In not a few seminaries, students caught reading my books are considered unworthy of the priesthood. My books are concealed as dangerous literature and are read-only in hiding.”

Despite their many differences, Pope Francis also warned in October that priests and even nuns regularly watch porn, saying that indulging in porn is a danger to the soul and a way of succumbing to the malign influence of “the devil."

Religion.