Sex orgies, prostitution, porn: Allegations shake Catholic Church in Italy

[MissMischief]

http://religionnews.com/2017/03/09/c...urch-in-italy/

Claims of sex orgies, prostitution and porn videos shake Catholic Church in Italy

Lurid accusations of priests involved in sex orgies, porn videos and prostitution have emerged from several parishes in Italy recently, sending shock waves all the way to the Vatican and challenging the high standards that Pope Francis has demanded of clergy.

In the southern city of Naples, for example, a priest was recently suspended from the parish of Santa Maria degli Angeli over claims he held gay orgies and used internet sites to recruit potential partners whom he paid for sex.

The allegations concerning the Rev. Mario D’Orlando were brought to the attention of the diocese when an anonymous letter was sent to a Naples bishop. D’Orlando denied the charges when he was summoned by the city’s archbishop, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, but is now facing a formal inquiry conducted by local church officials.

“He has been removed from his position while the investigation is underway,” a spokesman for the cardinal told Religion News Service. “I have no further comment.”


In the northern city of Padua, a 48-year-old priest, the Rev. Andrea Contin, is facing defrocking as well as judicial proceedings amid accusations he had up to 30 lovers, some of whom he took to a swingers’ resort in France.

Contin was removed from his parish of San Lazzaro after three women came forward with complaints against him last December. Bishop Claudio Cipolla of Padua cut short a visit to Latin America to deal with the scandal.


“I am incredulous and pained by the accusations,” Cipolla told a news conference last month. “This is unacceptable behavior for a priest, a Christian and even for a man.”

One woman, who claims to have been Contin’s lover for more than three years, claimed the priest carried sex toys and bondage equipment, prostituted his lovers on wife-swapping websites and also invited other priests from the area to sex parties.

“Even if, at the end of this affair, there are no legal consequences, we have a duty by canon law to take disciplinary action,” said Cipolla.

He also revealed Pope Francis had telephoned him personally at the end of January to offer his support and urge him to stay “strong.”

Since his election the pope has taken a tough line on ethical behavior in the church though he has also recognized the reality of human imperfection and personal flaws.

In recent weeks he has spoken out many times against “temptation,” and last week he told a gathering of clergy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome that faith could not progress without the challenge of temptation.

“Temptation is always present in our lives. Moreover, without temptation you cannot progress in faith,” he said.

Alberto Melloni, professor of church history at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, said there is nothing unusual about scandals in the priesthood.

“There is no sin that a cleric doesn’t commit. Scandals to me seem quite normal,” he told RNS.

“And I think the illusion of stopping scandals through better selection of personnel is not very promising and has not yielded great results. ”

Francis has frequently called for a more rigorous screening process for seminarians, and he has taken direct action when scandals erupt in Italy.

A case in point: When reports of “playboy priests” surfaced in the Italian diocese of Albenga-Imperia in the northern region of Liguria in late 2014, the pope sent a special envoy to investigate claims that clerics had posted nude photos of themselves on gay websites, sexually harassed the faithful and stolen church funds.

Two years later the pope replaced the leader of the diocese, Bishop Mario Oliveri.

Austen Ivereigh, commentator and author of “The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope,” said the pope distinguished between sinfulness and corruption and was intent on “rooting out” corruption inside the church.

“The remedy for those who succumb to temptation is forgiveness and a fresh start,” Ivereigh told RNS. “The problem is when priests turn their backs on the people, lead hidden lives and end up justifying their conduct. That’s corruption.

“And it’s only possible in the priesthood because of clericalism. That’s why the pope is so intent on rooting it out.”

I think it is time for the Catholic Church to begin allowing priests to marry. It's beyond stupid to expect any human being to remain celibate. As stated in the article, these people are human beings and the rule of celibacy just makes them draw the blinds and lock their doors.

Most keep defending celibacy among priests, saying it is a sign of "full devotion" to the Catholic Church. Do you agree? Would removing the vow of celibacy make priests less devout? Does celibacy show a priest commitment to the Catholic Church? Should Catholic priests be allowed to marry and have families?

[zhaoyun]

http://religionnews.com/2017/03/09/c...urch-in-italy/

Claims of sex orgies, prostitution and porn videos shake Catholic Church in Italy




It is time for the Catholic Church to begin allowing priests to marry. It's beyond stupid to expect any human being to remain celibate. As stated in the article, these people are human beings and the rule of celibacy just makes them draw the blinds and lock their doors.

Most keep defending celibacy among priests, saying it was a sign of "full devotion" to the Catholic Church. Do you agree?

Would removing the vow of celibacy make priests less devout? Does celibacy show a priest commitment to the Catholic Church? Should Catholic priests be allowed to marry and have families?

This forced sexlessness is so unnatural. This is why so many people in "revered" positions like religious and political leaders, end up being more sexually depraved and degenerate than the average man who doesn't have to put up an image.

[jingorex]

Sex orgies, prostitution, porn:

sounds like my kind of church!

[Al-Meksiki]

http://religionnews.com/2017/03/09/c...urch-in-italy/

[B][SIZE=3]
I think it is time for the Catholic Church to begin allowing priests to marry. It's beyond stupid to expect any human being to remain celibate. As stated in the article, these people are human beings and the rule of celibacy just makes them draw the blinds and lock their doors.

Most keep defending celibacy among priests, saying it was a sign of "full devotion" to the Catholic Church. Do you agree? Would removing the vow of celibacy make priests less devout? Does celibacy show a priest commitment to the Catholic Church? Should Catholic priests be allowed to marry and have families?

They should be allowed to marry, yes.

Either that or make castration a requirement for priesthood

[Timawa]

There's nothing new and surprising.

Popes in the past used to have illegitimate children and mistresses. The famous figure was Pope Alexander VI had children with his mistress and was known as Rodrigo Borgia.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Alexander_VI
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...y_active_popes

[Herr Abubu]

This forced sexlessness is so unnatural. This is why so many people in "revered" positions like religious and political leaders, end up being more sexually depraved and degenerate than the average man who doesn't have to put up an image.

There's a reason this generally doesn't happen with monks, who are in fact stricter anyway you look at it, Western or Eastern, but it does with priests, although it's hardly as common as the media tries to imply. Priesthood attracts a different and often weaker type of personality, especially in the Western Church.

Moreover, many of these are subversives, infiltrators. A gay man obviously doesn't become a priest because of any faith commitment. A priest so overcome with sexual desire doesn't have sex with men unless there's something wrong with him to begin with.

Self-discipline doesn't cause self-indulgence. It's a pretty silly notion of contemporary society that the passions will boil over if not indulged. It's exactly the opposite; obesity isn't caused by too much fasting.

A real insight into the human condition is that religious and political leaders often are depraved, in more ways than only sexual, is because that's what comes with being in positions of power and that why they'd want to be in those positions of power to begin with.

[UkrainianGirl]

Rofl. I love being protestant.

[Óttar]

This cartoon is called "Le Bon Pape."

There's nothing new and surprising.

Popes in the past used to have illegitimate children and mistresses. The famous figure was Pope Alexander VI had children with his mistress and was known as Rodrigo Borgia.

Reads like a litany of debauchery from beginning to end.

[crazyladybutterfly]

why are you saying they should be allowed to marry when you arent even catholic? there is a reason why they dont marry and it is to allow them to concentrate more on spirituality and to dedicate their lives to religious people.

[crazyladybutterfly]

There's a reason this generally doesn't happen with monks, who are in fact stricter anyway you look at it, Western or Eastern, but it does with priests, although it's hardly as common as the media tries to imply. Priesthood attracts a different and often weaker type of personality, especially in the Western Church.

Moreover, many of these are subversives, infiltrators. A gay man obviously doesn't become a priest because of any faith commitment. A priest so overcome with sexual desire doesn't have sex with men unless there's something wrong with him to begin with.

Self-discipline doesn't cause self-indulgence. It's a pretty silly notion of contemporary society that the passions will boil over if not indulged. It's exactly the opposite; obesity isn't caused by too much fasting.

A real insight into the human condition is that religious and political leaders often are depraved, in more ways than only sexual, is because that's what comes with being in positions of power and that why they'd want to be in those positions of power to begin with.

seems weird at first but such environments attract some psychopaths too. after all it is an easy way to get a roof upon your head , food and money and (if lucky) power.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...-in-the-clergy

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/andygil...t-psychopaths/