In The Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy.

I am in rapture with this book. Its telling of the Catholic Church and the war between conservative gays within the church and the more liberal wing is truly remarkable. We all know sordid tit bits about predatory popes, Swiss guards, Italian hustlers, and bad catholic bankers, but this book pieces it all together. A real shocker and well researched.

One of the wonders of this book is how it explains the link between the hypocrisy of the church, homosexuality and the abuse of women and children. The key argument is that within the church, large numbers of clergy are comprised because they are either closeted practicing gays (i.e., rooting around with other men inside and outside of the church) or closeted non practicing gays (that is right: they stay true to their vows but are gay nonetheless). These men live in fear of exposure or ridicule or explosion. They are silenced by their compromised state - see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil! Is it no wonder that the abuse of women and children became institutionalised within such a toxic environment?

It is well known that abuse, inappropriate and illegal practices and unethical behaviours are more likely to thrive in institutions and businesses that have bad human resource practices and that promote silence over open dialogue. In the case of the Catholic Church, this situation is compounded of course by what appears to be a genuine lack of care or compassion for the people it serves.

“That this is all predicated on lies and denial is in part because the Vatican is a gerontocracy, still run by men who grew up when the priesthood was almost the only career open to a homosexual youth in Europe or the US and priestly celibacy offered a sanctified escape from what would otherwise have been a crippling shame. But the price of this compromise was paid in uncountable twisted lives” (This is quote about the book but sorry but I can’t recall from whom).