A note on those Catholic watchdogs who serve the enemies of the Church.

Italian gigolo, Mangiacapra.

A week ago ...

Church Militant scored a headline on Drudge.

Male escort outs 40 gay priests in Italy...

Remember the story?

Re-former-gays can really hit hard, revealing the dark under belly of the beast of gay corruption, yet sometimes, they maybe protest too much.  They see them (gays) everywhere and believe every single rumor and accusation which comes along.  Because they've 'been there, done that' sort of credential.  Especially as it concerns the gay mafia-gay lobby in the Vatican.  In Italy these scandals are more about corruption and money than sin, yet the gigolo who wrote the book exposing the 'gay priests' claims he is speaking out of concern for the Church, "we are talking about sins, not about crimes.”

“I drafted this list of rotten apples not with the aim of digging up dirt on the Church, but rather with the aim of contributing to eradicate the rotten that would contaminate what is still good." - Mangiacapra

So what's the big deal?

Let's say Mangiacapra is sincere.  Even though he is selling his books and making the interview-radio-talk-show circuit, and we can't blame whistle blowers - but there is something about the guy which suggests he may be just as corrupt.  The Catholic Church in Italy is still a very powerful and influential entity.  And this is a classic scandal to discredit the Church, the bishops and the priests.   Then, when even faithful Catholics start bashing the Church over this, the enemies of the Church have gained another victory.

That said, Andrea Gagliarducci, writing for Catholic News Agency examines What's behind the sex scandal in the Italian Church.  It's a dispassionate look, untainted by what amounts to homophobic panic generated by the websites of watchdog re-formed-gay-Catholics.

Rome, Italy, Mar 10, 2018 / 05:04 pm (CNA).- The recent outing of gay priests by a male prostitute has shocked the Italian Church and prompted several dioceses to address the issue of homosexual activity among their clergy. 

Francesco Mangiacapra, a former lawyer who works as a prostitute, announced recently that in late February he forwarded to the Regional Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Campania a detailed record of his meetings and conversations with 34 priests and 6 seminarians. 

Was the Mangiacapra behaviour proper to tackle the issue? And what will happen in case these priests, whose names are now on newspapers, are found not guilty? 

These questions are floating in Rome, and it is not the first time. Similar scandals have previously used to attack the Church, though investigations have not let to much.
In 2010, an undercover investigation by an Italian magazine generated the same scandal. The article denounced the habits of some homosexual Roman priests filmed while having intercourse. 

The Vicariate of Rome, led at the time by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, delivered a strongly worded release condemning the behaviors of the involved priests and pledging to clean up the Church. 

However, the cardinal also noted that “the intent of the article is evident: generate a scandal, defame all priests on the basis of declarations from one of the people interviewed claiming that ’98 percent of priests’ he knows are homosexual.” - Finish reading at CNA

Avoid gossip.

I too used to jump on these stories, thinking, 'See!  It's a homo subculture infiltrating the Church.  Homos can't be priests, and so on.'  My stories would get attention, even get picked up by other bloggers, and help to reinforce the fears of a homosexual conspiracy in the Church.  I was often wrong in those posts.  I was also misled by many of the same voices influencing the panic today - which even attempts to discredit the Ordinary Form of Mass, Vatican II, and of course, the Holy Father.

Today, with Fr. Martin's, SJ help, we see clearly there is no hidden agenda or well organized conspiracy, neither is there any need for a covert 'gay lobby'.  It's all out in the open now.  Condemn him all you want, but Fr. Martin is pretty transparent about his work.  One has to give him credit for being honest.  Fr. Martin teams up with New Ways Ministry types and speaks publicly on what used to be called the gay 'agenda'.  Though he meets with hostile resistance, an underground network of homosexuals is less likely to exist in the Church, here or abroad, because of his work.  Therefore, corruption is even more unlikely to gain a foothold.

As Gagliarducci implies, though not all priests are homosexual and those who may be do not all engage in sexual acts:

"In the end, it is obvious that the Church is aware of homosexual behavior among its priests, and should be. But, in the Italian Church, it seems clear that other motives can be in play in the drama of public exposés."

I think the drama of public exposés plays out in other countries as well as our own - especially online and on Catholic television, in tell-all books, and magazine articles.  Making money on gossip and detraction and corruption - just seems to me like more corruption.

The fear mongers do not help anyone.