Do I need to say that Francis knows the people he addresses in this way without naming them: cardinals, papal masters of ceremonies, former secretaries of state, deputies, minor assistants or chamberlains? I installed myself in Rome, one week every month, regularly inside the Vatican, thanks to the hospitality of senior prelates who sometimes revealed that they too were 'part of the parish'. Most of the monsignori who have spoken at the balcony of the Loggia of St Peter's, between the pontificate of Paul VI and that of Francis, to deliver the sad announcement of the death of the pope or, with frank gaiety, to say Habemus papam!, share the same secret. But lots of people described this 'closet' to me. Peter Stanford on In the Closet of the Vatican, by Frédéric Martel, who claims up to 80 per cent of the Catholic Church’s most senior figures are gay. Let's just say: they represent the great majority. There have been carefully chosen words about homosexuality: 'Who am I to judge?' And then I travelled across the world, through more than thirty countries, among the clergies of Latin America, Asia, the United States and the Middle East, to collect over a thousand statements. In the Closet of the Vatican exposes the rot at the heart of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church today. Many Catholics now have a sense of this lie without yet having been able to read the revelations in this book. Send your thoughts and reactions to Letters to the Editor. Double life? "In the Closet of the Vatican" - Latest News. I'm not the first to discuss this phenomenon. I don't need to introduce you to this cardinal who appears in public on the balcony of the Loggia, and who was caught up in a quickly suppressed case of prostitution; this other French cardinal who for a long time had an Anglican lover in America; or this other one who, in his youth, had a chain of adventures like the beads on a nun's rosary; not forgetting those who live with their boyfriends in the palaces of the Vatican, where I have met them; they introduced their companions as their assistants, their minutante, their deputy, their chauffeur, their valet, their factotum, even their bodyguard! Vatican Addresses Catholic Trump Supporters Lulu Garcia Navarro talks with National Catholic Reporter's Joshua McElwee about an article that criticizes religious Trump supporters. Opposition to Pope Francis Comes Out of the Closet | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. They even suggest, when questioned, that by forbidding priests to marry, the Church has become sociologically homosexual; and that by imposing a continence that is against nature, and a secretive culture, it is partly responsible for the tens of thousands of instances of sexual abuse that are undermining it from within. It’s been obvious for a long time, but now it is official: the National Catholic Reporter rejects the teachings of the Catholic Church on sexuality. ', The reason for this, among the older cardinals, should be sought in the past: their stormy youths and roguish years before gay liberation explain their double lives and their homophobia in the old style. A gay adolescent today has other options, even in Italy, apart from entering holy orders. Do I need to say that Francis knows the people he addresses in this way without naming them: cardinals, papal masters of ceremonies, former secretaries of state, deputies, minor assistants or chamberlains? Pope Francis “is today by far the most popular religious leader on the planet, and one of the most popular leaders of any sort,” he said. And we might assume that this pope probably doesn't have the tendencies or inclination attributed to four of his recent predecessors. He knows his 'parish'. They also know that sexual desire, and homosexual desire first and foremost, is one of the main engines and wellsprings of Vatican life. 'The carnival is over,' the pope is reported to have said to his master of ceremonies at the very moment when he was elected. So I had to spend a long time investigating and living immersed in the Church. Let's just say: they represent the great majority. r/nofeenews: Paywall-free news. Let it be clear that for me a priest or a cardinal should not be ashamed about being homosexual; I even think it should be one possible social status among others. Magazine article National Catholic Reporter. The Vatican has one of the biggest gay communities in the world, and I doubt whether, even in San Francisco's Castro, the emblematic gay quarter, though more mixed today, there are quite as many gays! Never, perhaps, have the appearances of an institution been so deceptive; and equally deceptive are the pronouncements about celibacy and the vows of chastity that conceal a completely different reality. The National Catholic Reporter is a progressive national newspaper in the United States that reports on issues related to the Catholic Church. Have the pope and his liberal theologians realized that priestly celibacy was a failure? How? That is one of the mysteries of this book and my reason for writing it. I'm like St Thomas: I need to check to believe. It's a system; and a huge herd. However, Francis today is the object of a violent campaign, precisely because of his supposed liberalism on questions of sexual morality, by conservative cardinals who are very homophobic – and, most of them, secretly homosexual. È Bianca! But that isn't my subject. We might even say that there is an unwritten rule that can always be checked in this book: the more homophobic a priest is, the greater the chance that he himself will be homosexual. In fact, in an aside that had something of the disco-queen about it, another priest whispered to me in English: 'We are family!'. Since then, the Argentinian has overturned the little games of connivance and the homosexual fraternity that developed clandestinely after Paul VI, were amplified under John Paul II, before becoming ungovernable under Benedict XVI, leading eventually to his downfall. Rumours? 'How much filth there is in the Church,' said Cardinal Ratzinger, who also discovered the extent of the 'closet' through a secret report by three cardinals, the content of which was described to me and that was one of the major reasons for his resignation. Let it be clear that for me a priest or a cardinal should not be ashamed about being homosexual; I even think it should be one possible social status among others. (CNS/Vatican Media), Michelangelo's 16th-century frescoes in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican (CNS/Paul Haring). The best-kept secret of the Vatican is no secret to Pope Francis. And we might assume that this pope probably doesn't have the tendencies or inclination attributed to four of his recent predecessors. The lack of vocations has multiple causes, but the homosexual revolution is paradoxically one of the main forces behind it. He is also a journalist at National Public Radio and the author of ten books, which have been translated and published in more than 25 countries. Cart; English. The details, certainly, but also the great laws – and there are, as we will see, 14 general rules in this book. With his calm ego and relaxed attitude towards sexuality, Francis is an anomaly. It would have been difficult to publish a book like this twenty or even only ten years ago. With the homosexual liberation of the 1970s, and particularly since the gay socialization of the 1980s, Catholic vocations, especially in European countries, have naturally fallen. Many cardinals and priests who officiate at the Roman Curia, most of those who meet up in conclave beneath the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo – one of the most grandiose scenes of gay culture, peopled with virile bodies, surrounded by the Ignudi, those robust and beautiful naked young men – share the same 'inclinations'. But lots of people described this 'closet' to me. What they told me was unsayable for a long time. He knows his 'parish'. Oct. 6, 2018: Pope Francis orders a "thorough study of the entire documentation" present in the Vatican's archives regarding McCarrick's career. This Latino pope is the first to have used the word 'gay' rather than just 'homosexual' – and if we compare him with his predecessors, we may see him as the most 'gay-friendly' of modern pontiffs. Those conservatives, those traditionalists, those 'dubias', are in many cases the famous 'rigid people leading a double life' of whom Francis speaks so often. For a long time, the ways of the Lord remained, if I may say so, impenetrable. The Vatican has one of the biggest gay communities in the world, and I doubt whether, even in San Francisco's Castro, the emblematic gay quarter, though more mixed today, there are quite as many gays! But there we have it: these secret homosexuals are in the majority, powerful and influential and, in terms of the most 'rigid' among them, very noisy in their homophobic utterances. Often, those priests, influential or otherwise, came on to me decorously, and some, with very little reluctance, more intensely. Rumours? This brilliant piece of investigative writing is based on four years' authoritative research, including extensive interviews with those in power. The phrase has been uttered, and this time the evidence cannot be challenged. Evil gossip? Many cardinals and priests who officiate at the Roman Curia, most of those who meet up in conclave beneath the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo – one of the most grandiose scenes of gay culture, peopled with virile bodies, surrounded by the Ignudi, those robust and beautiful naked young men – share the same 'inclinations'. Do as I say, not as I do! In most cases it isn't simply a general inclination, of a certain fluidity, homophilia or 'tendencies', as people said at the time, nor even repressed or sublimated sexuality, all equally prevalent in the Church of Rome. Why? Without this key for understanding, the recent history of the Vatican and the Roman Church remains opaque. It's not quite true: he's among the queens. 'He's of the parish,' the priest whispers conspiratorially in my ear. A number of journalists have already revealed scandals and affairs within the Roman Curia. How many are there? During that long investigation I spent more than a hundred and fifty nights a year reporting, away from home, away from Paris. Francis knows that he has to move on the Church's stance, and that he will only be able to do this at the cost of a ruthless battle against all those who use sexual morality and homophobia to conceal their own hypocrisies and double lives. It doesn't matter. Social networks, more courage on the part of the press, and countless ecclesiastical sex scandals have made it possible, and necessary, to reveal this secret today. I installed myself in Rome, one week every month, regularly inside the Vatican, thanks to the hospitality of senior prelates who sometimes revealed that they too were 'part of the parish'. The details, certainly, but also the great laws – and there are, as we will see, 14 general rules in this book. Open secrets? By failing to recognize the broadly homosexual dimension, we deprive ourselves of one of the keys to a greater understanding of most of the facts that have stained the history of the Vatican for decades: the secret motivations that led Paul VI to confirm the prohibition on artificial contraception, the rejection of condoms and the strict obligation of celibacy on the priesthood; the war against 'liberation theology'; the scandals of the Vatican Bank in the time of the famous Archbishop Marcinkus (he too was a homosexual); the decision to forbid condoms as a way of battling AIDS, even when the pandemic would lead to more than thirty-five million deaths; the VatiLeaks I and II affairs; the recurrent and often unfathomable misogyny of many cardinals and bishops; the resignation of Benedict XVI; the current rebellion against Pope Francis … Every time, homosexuality plays a central part that many people can only guess at, and the truth of which has never really been told. A fairy tale. Among them, alleged homosexuals, who were present in the Vatican every day, introduced me to their world of initiates. Not the exceptions but the system and the model, what American sociologists call 'the pattern'. 'The problem is that if you tell the truth about the "closet" and the special friendships in the Vatican, people won't believe you. One that would be turned against the Church as soon as everyone became aware of its real motivations: a war waged between closeted homosexuals and gays who had come out! We’ll soon have a review and other commentary available. So it is not a matter of judging these homosexuals, even the closeted ones – I like them! He isn't part of the parish! Anthony Egan SJ shares the power that he believes such a book could have for the Catholic Church today, scandal plagued as it is. “In an explosive report that calls into question the decision-making of three Catholic popes, the Vatican has revealed a series of institutional failures that led to the repeated promotion of now disgraced ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick despite rumors of his alleged sexual misconduct with … So I had to spend a long time investigating and living immersed in the Church. Comments on Distinctly Catholic by Michael Sean Winters at National Catholic Reporter. In the Closet of the Vatican is published simultaneously in eight languages. I've often had a sense during my investigation that I've gone back in time and found myself in the 1930s or 1950s, years that I haven't known myself, with the dual mentality of the chosen people and the cursed people, which led one of the priests that I met often to say: 'Welcome to Sodoma!'. Friday, December 4, 2015. But there we have it: these secret homosexuals are in the majority, powerful and influential and, in terms of the most 'rigid' among them, very noisy in their homophobic utterances. The Vatican says Francis received the resignation request, accepted it, and ordered McCarrick to a life of prayer and penance. It is not a matter of denouncing these men, nor of 'outing' them while they are alive. ', as the Poet says, are practising. At first, of course, the pope was surprised by the extent of that 'malicious colony', its 'charming qualities' and its 'unbearable shortcomings' of which the French writer Marcel Proust wrote in his celebrated book Sodom and Gomorrah. War between gays, in short. The New York Times bestselling account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican. I'm like St Thomas: I need to check to believe. Francis has often repeated his criticisms of the 'hidden and often dissolute lives'; the ones who 'put make-up on their souls and live off make-up'; the 'lie' erected into a system that does 'a lot of harm, hypocrisy does a lot of harm: it's a way of life'. Contributions may be sent to: National Catholic Reporter 115 E. Armour Blvd. Others, last of all, proved to be loquacious, excessively so, as if they had been waiting for so many years to come out of their silence. Francis has often denounced this duplicity in his morning homilies from Santa Marta. National Catholic Reporter is a nonprofit organization. He's of the parish,' he stressed in a low voice, talking to me about the morals of a famous Vatican cardinal, a former 'minister' of John Paul II, who both of us knew well. How? It doesn't matter. Because the 'culture of secrecy', which was necessary to maintain silence about the huge presence of homosexuality inside the Church, has made it possible to hide sexual abuse, and for predators to benefit from this system of protection within the institution – even though paedophilia is not the subject of this book. Editor's Note: We are running an excerpt from the new book In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy by Frédéric Martel. Sr. Margaret Farely's "Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics," was condemned recently by the Vatican. So this book criticizes not the Church overall, but a very particular 'genre' within the gay community; it tells the story of the majority of those in the College of Cardinals and the Vatican. Editor's Note: We are running an excerpt from the new book In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy by Frédéric Martel.The book, to … Do as I say, not as I do! That's why he spends so much time denouncing fake devotees, whited sepulchres and hypocrites. Among them, alleged homosexuals, who were present in the Vatican every day, introduced me to their world of initiates. Others, last of all, proved to be loquacious, excessively so, as if they had been waiting for so many years to come out of their silence. The first person who used that coded expression in front of me was an archbishop from the Roman Curia. Opposition to Pope Francis Comes Out of the Closet | National Catholic Reporter. In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy (French: Sodoma : Enquête au cœur du Vatican) is a book by Frédéric Martel, which was published in French by Éditions Robert Laffont in February 2019 as well as being simultaneously released in eight languages. The book is based upon the concordant testimonies from 41 cardinals, 52 bishops and 45 apostolic nuncios. 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