Pontiff's
comments spark flurry of speculation about alleged 'bunga bunga' scene in the
Holy See
The Guardian, Tom Kington in Rome, The Observer, Sunday 30 June 2013
 |
| Pope Francis's private comments to a group of visiting South American churchmen caused a sensation when they appeared on a religious website. Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images |
A tide of
lurid speculation, questionable accusations and possible blackmail attempts is
buffeting the Vatican following Pope Francis's claim that he is preparing to
tackle a gay lobby secretly at work behind the Holy See's walls.
The new
pope's private comments to a group of visiting South American churchmen, which
caused a sensation when they appeared on a religious website last week,
prompted blushes in the Vatican and unleashed feverish gossip in Rome regarding
the contents of a report on Vatican infighting prepared last year for Francis's
predecessor, Joseph Ratzinger.
On his
retirement in February, Ratzinger handed his Argentine successor the dossier,
which reportedly describes a lobby of gay, senior churchmen inside the Vatican,
running a network of patronage while fighting off blackmailers.
The pope's
unguarded remarks, which appeared to confirm the speculation, have fuelled a
new round of accusations, beginning with a convicted paedophile priest, Father
Patrizio Poggi, who last week named nine fellow prelates in Rome as part of a
secret band who used a police officer to supply them with eastern European rent
boys.
By Friday
Poggi was under arrest, accused of defamation, as investigators claimed he had
invented the whole story to take revenge on fellow priests who stood by when he
was found guilty of abusing children.
On Thursday
the anti-paedophile campaigner Francesco Zanardi posted a taped conversation on
his website in which an informant told him about alleged secret sex parties
inside the Vatican involving 14-year-old male prostitutes and cardinals, as
well as rented apartments in Rome where prelates kept a supply of young men.
The man,
who claimed to be involved in organising the parties, said he wanted to expose
the Holy See's own "bunga bunga" scene, offering to supply photos and
videos taken by the prostitutes and telling Zanardi:: "I can give you a
hand."
"He
named two cardinals … and the details he
supplied stood up," Zanardi said. He bleeped out the names on the online
recording, but has supplied all details to prosecutors, who have opened an
investigation.
"In
another call, the man put me in touch with one of the boys, who had just turned
18 … I talked to him and believed his story. He was known as 'the blond' and
was one cardinal's favourite, but when I urged him to go to the police, he just
said: 'It's my living.'"
Zanardi,
43, is on a mission to expose abuse and hypocrisy in the church after he was
sexually abused in Liguria between the ages of 11 and 16 by a priest, Nello
Giraudo, who had already been moved from one parish because of abuse
allegations. The priest was later given an 18-month jail sentence.
An Italian
journalist, Carmelo Abbate, who was also contacted by the anonymous informant,
said he had yet to be convinced his stories stood up.
"He
seemed like a man who wanted to take revenge … but he didn't come up with the
proof," said Abbate, whose 2011 book Sex and the Vatican lifted the lid on
the gay clubs and saunas frequented by Rome-based priests, including one who
has held mass inside the Vatican.
Abbate has
since published an exposé of priestly paedophilia in Italy. "During my
research into abuse I came across many blackmailers, and decided they were
almost as bad as the abusers, since they are trying to make money out of
victims," he said.
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"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)
“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience?
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