| rkzenrage |
10-15-2007 12:07 PM |
Quote:
Vatican promises action after priest's gay advance
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...rnational/home
PHIL STEWART
Reuters
October 15, 2007 at 10:48 AM EDT
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican promised on Monday a speedy investigation into a senior official at the Holy See who was filmed by a hidden camera making homosexual advances, and to discipline him if necessary.
Monsignor Tommaso Stenico, a top official at the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy which oversees priests around the world, was heard on Italian television telling a young man he was "hot" and that homosexual sex was not sinful.
Fr. Stenico, who did not know he was being filmed and whose face and voice were distorted in the broadcast, says in his defence that he was only pretending to be gay to learn about people trying to "harm" the Church with homosexual behaviour.
Cardinal Julian Herranz, president of the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia, said the Vatican would act quickly after suspending Fr. Stenico from duty.
The Vatican suspends an Italian monsignor after he was videotaped talking about his sex life
Vatican official 'was pretending to be gay'
Vatican suspends gay monsignor after hidden camera outing
"The Holy See is the party most interested in quickly carrying out an internal clean-up — but always respecting human rights and after the pronouncement of the judicial authority," Cardinal Herranz told La Repubblica newspaper.
"This is the same criteria that will be applied to Monsignor Tommaso Stenico."
Cardinal Herranz declined to say what sanctions could be brought against Fr. Stenico. He said sexual misconduct is often dealt with through Canon Law 1339, which has been applied against priests found guilty of sexual abuse against minors.
The Catholic Church does not consider homosexual tendencies sinful in themselves but condemns homosexual acts and teaches that priests should adhere to their vow of celibacy.
The Vatican said on Saturday it had suspended Fr. Stenico because of "behaviour incompatible with priestly duty."
Fr. Stenico denies being gay and told La Repubblica over the weekend that he had never broken his vow of celibacy. He describes himself as a psychoanalyst who was only trying to learn about gay behaviour by impersonating a homosexual.
"I pretended to be gay — a thief amongst thieves — to enter into contact with those damaging the image of the Church with homosexual practices inside and outside the Vatican," Fr. Stenico said.
The Vatican, at the start of Pope Benedict's pontificate in 2005, imposed restrictions on homosexuals becoming priests.
The document says practising homosexuals should be barred from entering the priesthood along with men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies and those who support gay culture.
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Quote:
Vatican suspends gay monsignor after hidden camera outing
FRANCES D'EMILIO
Associated Press
October 13, 2007 at 2:40 PM EDT
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican said Saturday it has suspended a monsignor from a senior post at the Holy See after an Italian TV program using a hidden camera recorded him making advances to a young man and asserting that gay sex was not sinful.
The Vatican did not identify the monsignor by name. But Monsignor Tommaso Stenico confirmed in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that he had been suspended from his post at the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy, an office which aims to ensure proper conduct by priests.
“Don't condemn me,” Monsignor Stenico said, adding that the program “was done fraudulently” because it used a hidden camera.
In the program on private Italian network La7, a man identified as a priest is heard saying that he “didn't feel he was sinning” by having sex with gay men.
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Rome daily La Repubblica reported Saturday that Vatican officials recognized the monsignor's office in the background of the program, which aired Oct. 1.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said the Italian monsignor was suspended while the case was under investigation.
“Higher-ups are evaluating the situation with the necessary reserve and with the obligatory respect for the person involved, even if this person has erred,” Rev. Lombardi said.
Vatican officials “had to intervene decisively and with the severity required by conduct not compatible with priestly service and with the mission of the Holy See,” he added.
While the Vatican rarely comments on individual sex scandals, this case directly touched the Holy See, apparently prompting the confirmation of the report.
Vatican teaching holds that homosexual activity is a sin.
Monsignor Stenico said to call back later in the day when he would have more to say, but later attempts to reach him were not successful.
The Italian news agency ANSA quoted him as saying he had sent his superiors “a dutiful memo” about the case.
Milan daily Corriere della Sera had previously reported that a young man had contacted La7 and said he had been in contact with several priests on chat lines popular with gay men. Corriere said La7 then filmed encounters between the man and priests with a hidden camera.
A woman identifying herself as a producer for La7's “Exit” program declined to comment about the case, saying only that the program could be viewed on the network's Web site.
In the program, the faces of those speaking with the young man are obscured and their voices altered so they would not be recognized.
The man La Repubblica identified as the Vatican official can be heard saying that “he didn't feel he was sinning” by having sex with gay men and asking his visitor if he liked him.
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So, would they have suspended him for eating crab legs or wearing mixed thread garments?
This is sick.
So much for "loving the sinner", even though it is not a sin and they, even the "experts" don't know the difference between a sin and an abomination. Pathetic.
As always, what they teach is derision, separation, hate and separation... everything they profess to represent, teach and spread is a lie... it is the exact opposite, consistently. |
