Money laundering at the Vatican bank.
Corruption in the awarding of Vatican contracts.
Even a purported plot to kill Pope Benedict XVI.
The Vatican is being besieged by near-daily leaks of confidential documents and tabloid-style reports of alleged financial mismanagement, political infighting and gossip about who might be the next pope -- all coming out at an exceedingly delicate time for the Holy See and Benedict himself.
The frescoed halls of the Apostolic Palace have been buzzing about the leaks, which have emerged as the pontiff prepares for the ceremony this week recognizing 22 new cardinals -- the princes of the church who will elect his successor.
Such ceremonies always breed unseemly speculation about a future pontiff since they provide a rare chance for cardinals new and old to size one another up.
But the Saturday consistory has taken on greater gravitas since the 84-year-old Benedict is showing signs of slowing down.
Conspiracy theorists reading the Italian news media of late might also point to another looming date as reason why the Vatican's dirty laundry is being aired now: In June, a European commission will decide whether the Holy See has abided by tough international anti-money laundering and antiterrorism finance laws.
Compliance would mark a key step in the Vatican's goal of joining the so-called white list of countries that share financial information -- a designation the Vatican hopes will forever dispense with its reputation as a scandal-plagued, secrecy-obsessed tax haven.
The flurry of articles and TV news programs seemingly seeking to reinforce that reputation -- regardless of whether it's deserved -- certainly can't help the Holy See's bid.
All of which explains why the Vatican has been aggressively shooting down the reports with an unprecedented array of detailed, line-by-line refutations and sarcastic jabs at the journalists reporting them in a bid to set the record straight.
Almost lost in the shuffle is that the Vatican in recent weeks has done more to come into compliance with international financial norms than perhaps at any time in its history.
It has ratified three major United Nations conventions, rewritten its law on money laundering and, separately, scored a legal victory in the U.S. concerning its embattled bank, the Institute for Religious Works or IOR.
Assassination plot?
The most explosive story to hit newsstands came Friday: reports that the Vatican had received a confidential letter last month from a top Vatican official describing how an Italian cardinal visiting China had spoken about a presumed plot to kill Benedict this year.
The document also said the pontiff was grooming Milan's archbishop as his successor.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, dismissed that report as "so completely beyond reality and hardly serious that I don't even want to consider it."
But Lombardi has taken the reports alleging financial mismanagement far more seriously, warning of possible legal action against the news media outlets responsible.
Veteran Vatican correspondent Andrea Tornielli said the reports showed a clear power struggle is under way inside the Vatican, "the outcome of which is uncertain yet devastating," concerning both the fate of the pope's deputy, Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and any future conclave to elect the next pope.
Some of the leaked documents have carried the processing stamp of the Vatican secretariat of state, implying an internal leak. Other reports have been based on information from Roman judicial authorities.
Regardless, however, none of them appears to be so grave as to cause significant harm to the Holy See, particularly given that the Vatican has taken remarkable steps in the past year to be more transparent in its financial dealings and cooperative with international requests for financial data.
The news media campaign kicked off last month with a TV news program, "The Untouchables," broadcasting the content of leaked letters from the former No. 2 in the Vatican City administration, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, to Benedict and Bertone in 2011.
In one, Vigano begged not to be transferred after exposing what he said was corruption in the awarding of Vatican contracts.
Vigano was subsequently named the Vatican's ambassador to Washington -- a high-ranking post that was perhaps better suited to his diplomatic background but that nevertheless sealed the impression that he had been punished for stepping on too many toes in his cost-cutting efforts.