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Eighty per cent of Vatican priests are gay according to explosive new book which claims to uncover double lives of homophobic priests who use male prostitutes

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  badfish-hd-h-u  •  5 years ago  •  40 comments

Eighty per cent of Vatican priests are gay according to explosive new book which claims to uncover double lives of homophobic priests who use male prostitutes
'In the Closet of the Vatican' claims homophobic priests most likely to be gay 570-page expose to be released next week as Pope holds sex abuse summit Author Frederic Martel said book exposes double life of some senior clerics Found some had discreet relationships with men, while others used prostitutes

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



Eighty per cent of Vatican priests are gay and living in the closet, according to an explosive new book to be published next week.

The 570-page expose, titled In the Closet of the Vatican, claims that four in five clerics in the Roman Catholic Church are homosexuals - but aren't necessarily sexually active. 

French sociologist and journalist Frederic Martel, who spent four years conducting 1,500 interviews for the book, found that some priests maintained discreet long term relationships, while others lived double lives having casual sex with gay partners and using male prostitutes. 

He found that a number of clerics spoke of an unspoken code of the 'closet', with one rule of thumb being that the more homophobic they were, the more likely they were gay. 

The author, a former adviser to the French government, claims the late Alfonso López Trujillo - a Colombian cardinal who held senior roles in the Vatican - was an arch-defender of the church's teaching on homosexuality and contraception while using male prostitutes, according to Catholic website  the Tablet.  

The book is a 'startling account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican', according to British publisher Bloomsbury. 

In its marketing material, Bloomsbury claims the book 'reveals secrets' about celibacy, misogyny and plots against Pope Francis. 

But critics of the book said 'it is not always easy to tell when Martel is trafficking in fact, rumour, eyewitness accounts or hearsay,' according to the Tablet.

It's due to be released in eight languages across 20 countries next Wednesday, on the day that Pope Francis' holds a summit at the Vatican on sexual abuse attended by bishops from all over the world.

Martel, a former adviser to the French government who is openly gay, claims he spoke with 41 cardinals, 52 bishops and monsignors, 45 papal ambassadors or diplomatic officials, 11 Swiss guards and more than 200 priests and seminarians as research for the book.

The author spent around 200 weeks staying in residences inside the Vatican in Rome, according to  the Tablet.   

Although the book doesn't conflate homosexuality with the child sex abuse in the church, Martel claims gay priests do not want to report abuse on children in case their on homosexuality is exposed - according to sources familiar with the book's contents.  


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SteevieGee
Professor Silent
2  SteevieGee    5 years ago

Only 80%?

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4  Tacos!    5 years ago

What else are they supposed to do with their lives? One of these days the Catholic Church is going to figure out that requiring celibacy of anyone - gay or straight - is nuts, and does more harm than good. 

 
 
 
katrix
Sophomore Participates
4.2  katrix  replied to  Tacos! @4    5 years ago

Exactly.  Celibacy is not a normal state for the majority of humans.  The whole religious concept of sex being bad isn't even something Jesus or God ever said in the bible - it was Paul who was so hung up about sex. 

If Jesus existed, he would likely have been married and *gasp* had sex during the "missing years."  That apparently would ruin him as a messiah, to some.

 
 
 
katrix
Sophomore Participates
4.2.2  katrix  replied to  Release The Kraken @4.2.1    5 years ago

That could be.  Or, as we so often see, pedophiles become priests ... either to try to get themselves to stop, or to have access to altar boys or young girls in the congregation?  And now we find that Catholic priests have been sexually abusing nuns forever.  I think the only lesson is that celibacy is not normal.

Most religions do allow priests to marry.  From the recent Baptist church scandal, we see that celibacy isn't the only reason for these scandals.  Is it the power?  The hubris that comes from those who think they personally know what their god thinks and wants?  You don't hear as much about this happening in, say, the Episcopal religion, where priests aren't literalists and are allowed to marry, allowed to be gay, etc.  They also don't think their god is vengeful, as the Baptists and Catholics do.  Maybe it's as simple as that .. a warped religion attracts warped priests.

 
 
 
katrix
Sophomore Participates
4.2.4  katrix  replied to  Release The Kraken @4.2.3    5 years ago

And they should stop preaching that sex is inherently bad, and making people feel guilty for being normal.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4.2.6  Tacos!  replied to  katrix @4.2.2    5 years ago
Most religions do allow priests to marry.

Christianity was one of those religions for over a thousand years. This whole celibate priest business wasn't really an official thing until about the 12th century.

 
 
 
katrix
Sophomore Participates
4.2.7  katrix  replied to  Tacos! @4.2.6    5 years ago

How many Popes had illegitimate kids?  Heh.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
4.2.8  Tessylo  replied to  katrix @4.2.7    5 years ago

I have a huge interest in the Borgias, Pope Alexander VI, especially.  Especially considering The Godfather was written based upon the Borgia Family, who Mario Puzo considered the first crime family.  Rodrigo Borgia.  

From Wikipedia:

The Borgias became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 15th and 16th centuries, producing two popes: Alfons de Borja, who ruled as   Pope Callixtus III   during 1455–1458, and Rodrigo Lanzol Borgia, as   Pope Alexander VI , during 1492–1503.

Especially during the reign of Alexander VI, they were suspected of many crimes, including   adultery ,   incest ,   simony ,   theft ,   bribery , and   murder   (especially murder by   arsenic poisoning ). [1]   Because of their grasping for power, they made enemies of the   Medici , the   Sforza , and the Dominican friar   Savonarola , among others. They were also   patrons of the arts   who contributed to the   Renaissance .

The Borgia family stands out in history as being steeped in sin and immorality, yet there is evidence to suggest that perhaps they weren’t quite the one-dimensional evil-doers they first appear to have been.

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
4.2.9  Trout Giggles  replied to  Tessylo @4.2.8    5 years ago

I think the Borgias are fascinating. I don't think I'm the only one since so much has been written about them.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
4.2.10  Tessylo  replied to  Trout Giggles @4.2.9    5 years ago

I have several books on them, the series (Showtime I think) was good too.  They are a fascinating family.  My dad gave me one book, the Borgias and their enemies, they had a lot of them.

On one of the episodes of the Borgias where the pope was poisoned, all the other popes and bishops were praying, for his death.  Nothing heavenly about the popes of that era.  

 
 
 
bbl-1
Professor Quiet
5  bbl-1    5 years ago

The christian taliban are hard at work.

If I am not mistaken, is it also true that the Ku Kluxers have 'issues' with Catholics?

Gay priests?  What would that make Senator Larry Craig?

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
5.2  Trout Giggles  replied to  bbl-1 @5    5 years ago

Most evangelical types have major problems with the RCC.

 
 
 
katrix
Sophomore Participates
5.2.1  katrix  replied to  Trout Giggles @5.2    5 years ago

Yes, and the evangelical types condemn homosexuality just as much, and seem to have just as many pastors who sexually abuse their flocks.

Maybe it's as I suggested to badfish above ... religions who preach a vengeful, evil god attract warped priests/pastors. 

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
5.2.2  Trout Giggles  replied to  katrix @5.2.1    5 years ago

I heard a radio report the other day that the Southern Baptists are coming under fire for sexual misbehavior and abuse.

The RCC has gotten a little better on that vengeful God thingy. I didn't hear fire and brimstone homilies when I went to Mass.

 
 
 
bbl-1
Professor Quiet
5.2.3  bbl-1  replied to  Trout Giggles @5.2.2    5 years ago

"Under fire for sexual misbehavior and abuse."  ? ?  By the southern baptists?  When it is kept within the family too?

 
 
 
katrix
Sophomore Participates
5.2.4  katrix  replied to  Trout Giggles @5.2.2    5 years ago
The RCC has gotten a little better on that vengeful God thingy. I didn't hear fire and brimstone homilies when I went to Mass.

It wasn't as explicit, but they definitely are "my way or the highway" ... one of the first things on my path to atheism was when I was a Catholic child, and learned from church that my Jewish friend would go to hell because she wasn't Catholic.  Then I realized the only reason she was Jewish and I was Catholic was because of our parents, and started thinking about how silly the whole thing was.   

There's also the whole "you must be worthy to take communion" in the Catholic church.  My mom's priest, when Mom was ordained as an Episcopal deacon, told me I was welcome to take communion in their church even though I'm an atheist ... he said if I was doing it to make my mom happy, God would be just fine with it.  He doesn't believe in that egotistical jealous god that the Catholics, Baptists and evangelists do but rather a loving, inclusive god.

I was confirmed as an Episcopalian, and the message there was definitely about the loving god, and not "if you're not one of us you're doomed."  Sermons tended to be on things such as "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin rather than what you get at a Catholic church.  And omg, the Southern Baptists ... I went to a service there once and it was horrible!  The evangelists are generally just as bad, IMO.

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
5.2.6  Trout Giggles  replied to  katrix @5.2.4    5 years ago

Father Bob's homilies were uplifting, they weren't gloom and doom.

The RCC believes in transubstantiation while Protestant churches don't, that's why you have to be RCC or Orthodox to receive the Eucharist. And your conscience has to be clear. Mine never was, so I stopped taking the Eucharist then just stopped going all together

The worst services I ever went to were a Fundamental Baptist and Assembly of God. Those people have altar calls at every friggin' service

 
 
 
katrix
Sophomore Participates
5.2.7  katrix  replied to  Trout Giggles @5.2.6    5 years ago

What is transubstantiation - that whole ritualistic cannibalism thing where the wafer and wine actually transform into the body and blood of Christ?

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
5.2.8  Trout Giggles  replied to  katrix @5.2.7    5 years ago

Yes, exactly! When the priest blesses the wafers and the wine the Holy Spirit (God and Jesus, too) infuses in the bread and wine and becomes the actual flesh and blood.

It's one of those mysteries that I was constantly asking about

 
 
 
katrix
Sophomore Participates
5.2.9  katrix  replied to  Trout Giggles @5.2.8    5 years ago

And probably got as good an answer as I did when I asked why my Jewish friend would go to hell even if she were a better person than some of the Christians I knew ;)  Mom's priest told me that I was a better Christian than many in his congregation - knowing that I'm an atheist ;)

Although ... how can Jewish people go to hell (or heaven, for that matter) when they don't believe it?  Do Catholics believe only they go to purgatory, and everyone else goes to heaven and hell? 

How can the "one real god" have 33,000 sects, none of whom believe the same things about it, most believing they somehow know the one truth?  Aren't those ones false prophets?  That's how I think of anyone who claims they know what their god thinks and feels, and that everyone else is wrong, rather than admitting that they could be wrong.  All while telling me that their god is beyond human understanding ... does that make them inhuman?

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
5.2.10  Trout Giggles  replied to  katrix @5.2.9    5 years ago

I've met some holy roller Catholics who think only Catholics are going to heaven, but Father Bob was not like that. He even said that he thought Gandhi was in heaven just because he was a good person who did good. He also told me I wasn't allowed to say I hoped Saddam was roasting in hell because it wasn't my place to judge.Anyway....I do believe that we are seeing many false prophets today. The Pat Robertsons, the Franklin Grahams, the Joel Osteens, the Rick Warrens....

 
 
 
katrix
Sophomore Participates
5.2.11  katrix  replied to  Trout Giggles @5.2.10    5 years ago

He sounds like my Mom's priest.  The ones who claim faith alone is enough, that works aren't required (in direct contradiction to what Jesus said in the bible - these fundies seem to worship Paul instead) - they are the ones who seem the worst.  They think they have a get of hell free card so they can do whatever they want, and then they project their immorality onto atheists (and often onto other Christians as well).

As to your last comment ... I think we have one or two of those right in here ;)

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
5.2.12  Trout Giggles  replied to  katrix @5.2.11    5 years ago

No, Father Bob was all about the works. Gandhi was Hindu and he did great things. According to Father Bob, Gandhi's works were what got him into heaven.

And Father Bob was always saying that faith without works is dead faith. We have one or 2 here think that faith is all that's needed. I really disagree on that. If you're a good Christian, you show your faith by your works.

 
 
 
epistte
Junior Guide
5.3  epistte  replied to  bbl-1 @5    5 years ago
The christian taliban are hard at work.

If I am not mistaken, is it also true that the Ku Kluxers have 'issues' with Catholics?

Gay priests?  What would that make Senator Larry Craig?

The Klan hate both Catholics and gay people.

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
6  Paula Bartholomew    5 years ago

I wonder what the church members think about their "tithes" being used to pay the escorts.  "No Sally, you can't have that new doll.  We have to give the money to the church to pay for male prostitutes for the priests."

 
 
 
epistte
Junior Guide
6.1  epistte  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @6    5 years ago
I wonder what the church members think about their "tithes" being used to pay the escorts.  "No Sally, you can't have that new doll.  We have to give the money to the church to pay for male prostitutes for the priests."

They will delude themselves into saying that this isn't true.  I have many Catholic relatives and I know how they think.  In their mind, gay people are the problem. 

 
 
 
charger 383
Professor Silent
7  charger 383    5 years ago

this is just another reason I don't want to be a part of religion

 
 
 
Phoenyx13
Sophomore Silent
8  Phoenyx13    5 years ago
He found that a number of clerics spoke of an unspoken code of the 'closet', with one rule of thumb being that the more homophobic they were, the more likely they were gay.

i don't know if that rule should be limited to clerics

 
 

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