The diocese of Rome criticized journalists for creating a scandal, and urged all homosexual priests to resign, saying they "ought not to have become priests."
-- From "Catholic church embarrassed by gay priests revelations" by John Hooper in Rome, The Guardian 7/24/10
Using hidden cameras, the weekly Panorama [magazine], owned by Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, captured priests visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex. The Vatican does not condemn homosexuals, but it teaches that gay sex is "intrinsically disordered". In one of his earliest moves, pope Benedict barred actively gay men from studying for the priesthood.
A member of the clergy quoted by the magazine put the proportion of gay priests in the Italian capital at "98%". The Rome diocese insisted the vast majority of priests in the city were "models of morality for all", while adding that the number of gay clergyman was "small, but not to be written off as isolated cases". A review eight years ago of research on the American church concluded that between a quarter and a half of seminarians and priests there were homosexual.
A former Italian MP and gay activist, Franco Grillini, said: "If all the gays in the Catholic church were to leave it at once – something we would very much like – they would cause it serious operational problems."
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Read this related article: Archbishop Blames Pro-homosexual Culture for Priest Abuse
