Vatican City: Gossip
was swirling around the Vatican
at the time of Pope Benedict’s abdication that he was resigning because a “gay
scandal” was about to break which would implicate high ranking members of the
curia. Now Pope Francis has spoken openly about a “gay lobby.” The Huffington
Post reports his comments in a meeting with members of the Latin American
Caribbean Confederation of Religious Men and Women:
"Yes, it is difficult. In the curia there are holy people, truly holy
people. But there is also a current of corruption, also there is, it is true...
they speak of a 'Gay Lobby' and that is true, it is there... we will have to
see what we can do..."
The existence of a significant number of homosexual men in the Catholic
priesthood has been discussed openly for some time. Michael Rose’s 2002 book
Goodbye Good Men shocked many Catholics by exposing the rampant homosexual
subculture within American seminaries.
Anyone who has been close to the seminary system in Britain and the US will
have similar stories to tell as the one related to me by a young man, who on
his first night at seminary, was invited to an obviously gay party at which the
rector of the seminary appeared wearing a T-shirt that said on the front, “Am I
gay?” and on the back, “Ask my boyfriend…”
First hand stories abound of orthodox young men being propositioned by members
of a homosexual clique and then persecuted and eventually expelled when they
did not conform to the prevailing gay subculture. In 2005 the Vatican ordered an investigation into seminaries
in the United States
and things have improved considerably since then. Pope Francis has now
indicated that a similar homosexual sub culture exists within the Vatican and
that he wants to do something about it.
It may prove more difficult than he thinks. The “lavender mafia” in American
seminaries had become blatant. Seminary professors were not only engaged in
homosexual relationships, but they were advocating “gay rights” and actively
promoting homosexual choices. There were plenty of witnesses and evidence. It
was comparatively easy, therefore, to weed out the problem.
The situation in the Vatican
is likely to be far more secretive. There may be active homosexual clergy and
staff working in the Vatican,
but it is unlikely that they are gay campaigners. Instead, if there is a “gay
lobby” it is far more likely to be akin to an insider’s club. Homosexuality
itself will never be mentioned. All will be communicated with a wink and a
nudge. Plum appointments will be awarded to
favorites, peccadilloes will be swept under the carpet, and a blind eye will be
turned towards sexual indiscretion.
What can be done about a secret society that has no obvious members and which
remains no more than a shadowy collection of friendships? Not much. It is no
sin for a man to experience same sex attraction; nor is it forbidden for him to
have close friends. Indeed, a celibate priest needs close, supportive
friendships, and a strong fraternal spirit is encouraged amongst the clergy.
It would not be right to launch a witch hunt--suspecting every priest with
close male friends to be part of a homosexual clique; neither would it be
possible to investigate every bedroom in the Vatican to see if illicit behaviors
are taking place. What can one do? Send in the Catholic Bedroom Police? Monitor
every priest’s off duty activities? Check every vacation partner, hotel booking
and “special friendship”?
It is even more complicated: It is possible that there are active homosexuals
in the Vatican, but that the “gay lobby” being referred to is a group of men
who are celibate homosexuals--men who operate within a network of other men who
share the same proclivities not only sexually, but also in matters of
liturgical taste, church politics and theological views.
We think of homosexual activists as radical liberals, but this other category
of Catholic homosexually-oriented clergy are conservative theologically and
liturgically, and strictly celibate. If these conservative priests are the “gay
lobby” being referred to, then the situation is even more complex. They cannot
be weeded out because they are doing nothing wrong; furthermore their enemies
may be the radical liberals who don’t like their conservative stance, nor the
fact that (in their view) these men are hypocritical “suppressed homosexuals”.
So in an attempt to undermine their conservative stance and perceived hypocrisy
the liberals may be aiming at this group as the secretive “gay lobby” that
needs to be outed and routed.
If Pope Francis is to take action against this shadowy “gay lobby” the best way
forward will not be a purge or witch hunt, but a positive appeal for all the
curial officials to live up to their ordination vows. No matter how complex the
situation, the problem will be solved not first by punishment and banishment,
but by renewal and reform from within the human heart. This renewal and reform
requires a return to the gospel ideals of Christ-like simplicity, self
sacrifice and service--ideals which Pope Francis lives out and which the rest
of the priests in the Catholic Church should emulate.