My Years a Catholic Semary: 1967-1974 - The Gay & Lbian Review

Contents:

• ‘GAY CLUBS’ N SEMARI, SAYS POPE BENEDICT POSTHUMO ATTACK ON FRANCIS
• ‘GAY CLUBS’ RUN SEMARI — POPE BENEDICT BOOK IS PUBLISHED BLASTG PROGRSIVE POPE FRANCIS
• GRDR, BLACKMAIL AND NFSN: THE LIFE OF A GAY SEMARIAN
• GRDR, BLACKMAIL AND NFSN: THE LIFE OF A GAY SEMARIAN
• ‘IT IS NOT A CLOSET. IT IS A CAGE.’ GAY CATHOLIC PRITS SPEAK OUT
• GAY SEMARIANS
• GAY CLUBS RUN CATHOLIC SEMARI SAYS POPE BENEDICT ATTACK ON FRANCIS

‘GAY CLUBS’ N SEMARI, SAYS POPE BENEDICT POSTHUMO ATTACK ON FRANCIS

Gay “clubs” operate openly Catholic semari, the stutns that prepare men for the prithood, the late Pope Benedict XVI has claimed a posthumoly published book sthg of Pope Francis’s progrsive agenda. The existence of “homosexual clubs” is particularly prevalent the US, Benedict said his book, addg: “In several semari, homosexual clubs operate more or ls openly.

Seven are clearly gay. That agre more or ls wh the ual percentage: between 60 and 70 per cent of semarians are gay.

I have brown hair, ” he tells semarian go on: ‘The atmosphere at my semary is also very homosexual. There are stunts who really live out their homosexualy; others who don’t, or not yet. “There are homosexuals who are really chaste; there are also heterosexuals who are practisg for want of women, out of substutn, one might say.

‘GAY CLUBS’ RUN SEMARI — POPE BENEDICT BOOK IS PUBLISHED BLASTG PROGRSIVE POPE FRANCIS

They are far om their village for the first time, whout their fay, and a strictly mascule ntext and strongly homosexual universe they beg to unrstand their, the ordands – even the olr on – are still virgs when they reach the semary: ntact wh other boys, their tennci are revealed or e to foc. For me gog to the semary was a way of alg wh my homosexualy.

No longer able to nceal his homosexualy, he chose to talk to me ankly, and we’ve met up aga for dner five tim durg this Ydier, Axel and Robert, Lafd lked his reer path to his homosexualy. Gradually, he managed to put a name to his malaise: homosexualy.

’He gradually disvered and accepted his homosexualy, and left for Italy, sce the Roman semari were “tradnally”, he tells me, the place “where the sensive boys of Lat Ameri are sent” the pal he started livg a well-partmentalised life, whout ever allowg himself to spend the night away om the semary where he stayed, and where he now had important me he is “openly gay”, and he talks about his obssns as tense sexual sir. ”In acceptg his homosexualy, Lafd also started seeg the Church another light.

GRDR, BLACKMAIL AND NFSN: THE LIFE OF A GAY SEMARIAN

In nfsg their homosexualy to their prit or spirual director, the semarians leave themselv exposed. At yet other tim the nfsns – even though this is a sacrament – lead to touchg, harassment, blackmail or sexual church puts up wh the nunciatn of homosexuals, but forbids prits who are ma aware of sexual abe nfsn to betray that secretWhen a semarian nfs that he has attractns or tennci, he tak risks. It puts up wh the nunciatn of homosexuals, whose admissns have been eliced nfsn, but forbids prits who are ma aware of sexual abe nfsn to betray that secret, ” one semarian laments.

But my homosexualy is well known wh the semary. Homosexual practice is better tolerated the semari when is not displayed.

Chasty and celibacy apply mostly to women, ” the German semarian adds wh a broad the celibacy of prits remas place, a gay prit will always receive a better wele the church than a straight prit. “Essentially the church has always preferred gay prits to heterosexual prits. Wh s anti-gay circulars, claims to be changg thgs a ltle, but you n’t change a realy wh a circular!

GRDR, BLACKMAIL AND NFSN: THE LIFE OF A GAY SEMARIAN

“While the celibacy of prits remas place, a gay prit will always receive a better wele the church than a straight prit. ”The semarians I have terviewed agree on another pot: a heterosexual nnot feel pletely at ease a Catholic semary, bee – and I’m quotg the exprsns they ed – of “the looks”, the “special iendships”, the “bromanc” the “boy-chasg”, and the “sensivy”, “fluidy”, “tenrns” and “generalised homoerotic atmosphere” that emanat om . Anyone who wasn’t a nfirmed bachelor would be another semarian adds, repeatg a mantra that I have heard several tim: “J never once mentns homosexualy.

A large proportn of those who went out at the ad of night lookg for chance enunters or, Rome, clubs like Diabolo 23, K-Men’s Gay, the Bunker or the Vic Club n now cise om the fort of their own to apps like Grdr, Tr or Hor, and hook-up s like GayRomeo (now PlaRomeo), Scff (for more mature men and “bears”), Daddyhunt (for those who like “daddi”), or Ren (for fetishists and “extreme” sexuali), they no longer need to move or to take too many wh my rearchers Rome, I also disver the homosexualy of several semarians, prits or curia bishops thanks to the magic of the they gave their email addrs or mobile numbers out of polens or plicy when we met the Vatin. )Today lots of them spend their evengs on GayRomeo, Tr, Scff or Venerabilis – but mostly on prits spot each other whout meang to, havg disvered that another gay cleric is a few metr away.

‘IT IS NOT A CLOSET. IT IS A CAGE.’ GAY CATHOLIC PRITS SPEAK OUT

And my team and I have also managed to prove that Grdr do s job every eveng si the Vatin Facebook, another se ed a lot for cisg, bee of the diversy of s members, is easy to spot gay prits or semarians. This is te, for example, of several prelat that we followed Rome: most of them were unfaiar wh the nfintialy protols of the social work, and left their list of iends only had to look at the acunt of a Roman gay well nnected the homosexual muny of the cy to terme om “iends mon” whether a prit was gay or not.

A timele need not nta a sgle gay msage: the way Facebook works almost always giv gays pe this you need to have partmentalised your life – g separate works and never havg shared the slightt personal rmatn – to such an extent that is almost phon and the ter are changg the liv of semarians and prits for better or for is an eded extract om In the Closet of the Vatin: Power, Homosexualy and Hypocrisy, by Frédéric Martel, published by Bloomsbury. Not one uttered the word “gay.

“I really am gay, ” Father Green, now a prit near Milwkee, remembered tellg himself for the first time.

GAY SEMARIANS

For years, church lears have driven gay ngregants away shame and sisted that “homosexual tennci” are “disorred. ” And yet, thoands of the church’s prits are stori of gay prits are unspoken, veiled om the outsi world, known only to one another, if they are known at than about 10 prits the Uned Stat have dared to e out publicly. But gay men probably make up at least 30 to 40 percent of the Amerin Catholic clergy, acrdg to dozens of timat om gay prits themselv and rearchers.

One prit Wisns said he assumed every prit was gay unls he knows for a fact he is not. A prit Florida put this way: “A third are gay, a third are straight and a third don’t know what the hell they are.

”Two dozen gay prits and semarians om 13 stat shared timate tails of their liv the Catholic closet wh The New York Tim over the past two months. A few had been exprsly forbidn to e out or even to speak about homosexualy. He uld lose all three if his bishop fds his sexualy disqualifyg, even if he is fahful to his vows of environment for gay prits has grown only more dangero.

GAY CLUBS RUN CATHOLIC SEMARI SAYS POPE BENEDICT ATTACK ON FRANCIS

McCarrick, the once-powerful rdal who was ocked last week for sexual abe of boys and young men, has flamed accatns that homosexualy is to blame for the church’s rurgent abe crisis. Studi repeatedly fd there to be no nnectn between beg gay and abg children.