The Vatican's 'gay lobby' crisis
According to notes from a conversation between Pope Francis and catholic officials that were leaked earlier this week, the pontiff believes in the existence of a "gay lobby" and a "stream of corruption" inside the Vatican.
Reading the transcript of his remarks, what's astonishing is not so much that he wants a revolution in the Vatican – everyone outside it wants one now – but his ambition to turn so much more upside down. He told his visitors, representatives of the Latin American nuns and monks, that it's time to "flip the tortilla."
The headline news was of course the description of the "gay lobby". This appears to be further confirmation of the rumours that the secret investigation into the Vatileaks scandal conducted last autumn by three cardinals, found involvement of significant gay networks within the Vatican.
What makes this so serious for the Vatican is that any sexually active Catholic priest is a potential blackmail victim, and priests who know of one another's activities can be bound into unhealthy networks by an atmosphere of guilty secrets. There have always been gay priests, bishops, and even cardinals, but in the past 30 years they seem to have formed an increasing proportion of the clergy, as the rule of celibacy becomes harder to enforce and falls into general contempt.
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