Put on your red Prada shoes, Benedict!

[Miss Philicia]

best.vatican.scadal EVA

A police investigation into corruption at the Vatican has taken a twist with the discovery of an organised network of male prostitution. So far a senior aide to the Pope and a Vatican chorister have been removed from their posts over allegations of involvement in the homosexual prostitution ring.

The allegations were made public when Italian newspapers published transcripts of phone calls recorded by police. Police had been conducting an unrelated corruption investigation. Apparently the tapes record Angelo Balducci, a Gentleman of His Holiness, negotiating with Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, a 29-year-old Nigerian Vatican chorister, about men he wanted brought to him for sexual purposes.

Balducci held a high position within the Vatican and carried the coffin of Pope John Paul at his 2005 funeral. He has now lost his position as a Gentleman of the Holiness. The taped conversations include Balducci describing precise physical details of the men he desired. (Oh, I can ONLY imagine what THAT was!)

Balducci was a member of one of the world's most exclusive fraternities – the Gentlemen of His Holiness, or Papal Gentlemen, the ceremonial ushers of the papal household.

The scandal is just the newest scandal in a seemingly never ending series of scandals involving the Catholic Church. There is no telling how extensive the prostitution ring is within the Vatican, or what, if any knowledge, Pope Benedict XVI had of the nefarious activities taking place within his household.

The scandal is yet another indication of the corruption and moral hypocrisy which surrounds the Pope, and permeates the Catholic Church.

[Matty the Damned]

Fabulous no? Some chorister turns out to be the Barney Frank Boyfriend of the Mother Church.

I heard that Il Papa's brother Georg was tainted by association.

MtD

[Miss Philicia]

I heard that Il Papa's brother Georg was tainted by association.

MtD

That's Benny's hunky man-servant, no?  Shiner of the patent Prada?

[Matty the Damned]

Sneer all you want heathen, Pope B is the very pinnacle of Fantabulousa!

MtD

[Jeff G]

 it is a pretty dress . Was he at the Oscars ?

[Hellraiser]

"That's a tranny that looks like a hot mess and not in a good way, it's a tickity tack tranny hot mess out of control super tranny from transylvania who is not apologizing for it."

[Jeff G]

oh just wait ... your taste may change when ya get a little older .

[Matty the Damned]

"That's a tranny that looks like a hot mess and not in a good way, it's a tickity tack tranny hot mess out of control super tranny from transylvania who is not apologizing for it."

Careful pervert, His Popiness saw what you did there.

MtD

[Joe K]

I wonder what they will say, when they find his dungeon.

[MarkB]

it is a pretty dress . Was he at the Oscars ?

Jest not. Papa Benedict was in the running for the Best Costume Oscar, until he spoiled it by e-mailing all the voters telling them to rubbish the other films.

[mecch]

A friend insisted he was pimping choir boys but i haven't seen that yet. Seems like he was pimping grown men.

[WillyWump]

Sneer all you want heathen, Pope B is the very pinnacle of Fantabulousa!

MtD

A striking resemblance to Liberace.

[GSOgymrat]

Sneer all you want heathen, Pope B is the very pinnacle of Fantabulousa!

WORK that skirt!

[Rev. Moon]

How scandalous.  I hope they be using condoms... last thing we need are heads from the Vatican asking questions about possible infection.

[Matty the Damned]

A striking resemblance to Liberace.

I think so.

MtD

[Matty the Damned]

Also, in keeping with succulent young choirboy theme of the OP:

MtD
(Who has this LP)

[alliance]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZMWZuzdfs8

striking resemblence, indeed.  Uncanny.

[fearless]

Also, in keeping with succulent young choirboy theme of the OP:

MtD
(Who has this LP)

I wonder what ever happened to Jamie Redfern!

[edfu]

I wonder what ever happened to Jamie Redfern!

Voila:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Redfern

He appears to be quite prominent in Australian showbiz. 

[mecch]

So were there any actual choir boys being pimped?

[Matty the Damned]

Voila:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Redfern

He appears to be quite prominent in Australian showbiz. 

Prominent? Yeeesh. He's been relegated to Channel 31 for years.

MtD

[Merlin]

I always felt the current "Poope" seems demonic....just look into his eyes. Yikes!

[blackwingbear]

I always felt the current "Poope" seems demonic....just look into his eyes. Yikes!

Well, he WAS a member of the Hitler Youth..

[edfu]

U.S. media have been doing a lousy job in not covering the daily, ever-growing pedophilia scandal involving Catholic priests in Europe.  There has been minimal coverage of the horrendous situation in Ireland, where a three-year governmental investigation uncovered an astounding more than 14,000 cases of sexual abuse; four Irish bishops have been forced to resign because of their cover-ups.  In the last month similar situations have come to light in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.  

Now, for the first time, the Pope has been personally implicated in a sexual-abuse case while he was archbishop of Munich:

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/pope-benedict-xvi-allowed-pedophile-priest-to-continue-in-ministry/19397482

Many in Europe are now beginning to wonder if the Pope can retain his position:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pope-will-struggle-to-survive-abuse-scandal-2098357.html

http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/periscope/could-pope-benedict-lose-his-job-over-german-sex-scandals-87519032.html

In the U.S. Michael Wolff asks, "Is the Pope toast?":

http://www.newser.com/off-the-grid/post/417/is-the-pope-toast.html?utm_source=otg&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20100312

This is getting very, very interesting.  

P.S.  Gay Father Tony Adams:  "The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost":

http://farmboyz.blogspot.com/

[Merlin]

I am one for being who you are BUT if one chooses to be a man of the cloth, he needs to respect the sanctity of his vows. If a religious cannot contain him/herself, leave the vocation and spare innocent people from his/her errors.

Many years ago, I was accosted by a elderly guy in a gay bar in San Francisco. He disclosed that he was a priest with the local parish. I asked why was he in a gay bar instead of observing his vows and he simply said that every man has needs. I was pretty surprised but kept my distance. He suggested to drive me back to my hotel when I wanted to leave. I told him I don't do priests and that the mental was a big turn off for me. I was Catholic then. He kept insisting and offered to "just cuddle" and that there was no need to go heavy. I just ignored him and left. He trailed me until I turned round and told him off. He then gave me his name card and told me to call him whenever I felt like meeting up to talk given he was still a priest ! 

years later, I came across the video, "Priest". I watched it and although I empathized with the main character of the movie, I still today feel that one must choose what type of life one leads in a religious vocation and not harm others in the end under the guise of pretense, especially when a behemoth institution like the Church is your backing. 

[Assurbanipal]

The story finally hit the NYTimes website last night.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/world/europe/13pope.html

I'd been wondering where it was too.

[edfu]

I was going to post the link to the "New York Times,"  but I thought registration was required for Times links to work, so I didn't.   

[Okealyshire]

More juicy tidbits...

Christopher Hitchens exposes the stench of evil surrounding Ratzinger

In the first place, nobody has had to strive to find such evidence: It has surfaced, as it was bound to do. In the second place, this extension of the awful scandal to the topmost level of the Roman Catholic Church is a process that has only just begun. Yet it became in a sense inevitable when the College of Cardinals elected, as the vicar of Christ on Earth, the man chiefly responsible for the original cover-up. (One of the sanctified voters in that "election" was Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, a man who had already found the jurisdiction of Massachusetts a bit too warm for his liking.)
...
In 1979, an 11-year-old German boy identified as Wilfried F. was taken on a vacation trip to the mountains by a priest. After that, he was administered alcohol, locked in his bedroom, stripped naked, and forced to suck the penis of his confessor. (Why do we limit ourselves to calling this sort of thing "abuse"?) The offending cleric was transferred from Essen to Munich for "therapy" by a decision of then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, and assurances were given that he would no longer have children in his care. But it took no time for Ratzinger's deputy, Vicar General Gerhard Gruber, to return him to "pastoral" work, where he soon enough resumed his career of sexual assault.
...
In May of [2001], Ratzinger issued a confidential letter to every bishop. In it, he reminded them of the extreme gravity of a certain crime. But that crime was the reporting of the rape and torture.  The accusations, intoned Ratzinger, were only treatable within the church's own exclusive jurisdiction. Any sharing of the evidence with legal authorities or the press was utterly forbidden. Charges were to be investigated "in the most secretive way ... restrained by a perpetual silence ... and everyone ... is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office … under the penalty of excommunication." (My italics). Nobody has yet been excommunicated for the rape and torture of children, but exposing the offense could get you into serious trouble. And this is the church that warns us against moral relativism!

But wait, there's more...

Watch this Intelligence Squared debate where the motion was: "The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world." A bumbling Nigerian bishop and a strident British conservative MP don't fare well against the always erudite Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry. At the very end they reveal the audience polling...the opinion sway is astounding.

[edfu]

Comedian Louis CK learns about the Catholic Church and fucking boys (wow...just...wow):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VABSoHYQr6k&feature=player_embedded