«IT'S CALLED GOSSIP AND OF COURSE IT'S AN OBSESSION OF MINE»

Pope Benedict XVI has shut down a famous community in Rome that organized dances by a former nightclub dancer nun and hosted VIPs like Madonna, earning the disfavour of the Vatican.The closure of the monastery of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, which holds some of the Church’s most prized relics, was reported by Italian dailies La Stampa and Il Foglio.The reports said the community of Cistercian monks based at the church for more than five centuries was being transferred to other churches in Italy.Contacted by AFP, the Vatican did not deny the reports.The basilica had become a hub for the “Friends of Santa Croce”, an aristocratic group, and had been criticized for some unorthodox practices including dances in which nuns pranced around the altar.