Vatican Monsignor Busted in Sex Sting Protected by Powerful Clergy

At the end of June, newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano broke the story of a cocaine-fueled homosexual orgy busted by Vatican Police. The guards of the gendarmerie raided an apartment just a courtyard away from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and allegedly arrested 50-year-old Msgr. Luigi Capozzi, secretary to Cdl. Francesco Coccopalmerio, current head of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts and close adviser to the pope.

The apartment used to be the residence of Cdl. Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI, during the years he served as prefect of the CDF. This confirms the allegations of the neighbors (all high prelates of the Church) that the building is reserved for top officials of the Roman Curia, not for monsignors like Capozzi. Capozzi was also entrusted with a luxurious car with Holy See license plates, which allowed him to transport drugs without harassment from the gendarmerie or the Italian Police. These unusual benefits suggest he's protected by very powerful clergy.

Capozzi, who's been called "an ardent Francis supporter," was ordained a priest in 1992 and belongs to the diocese of Palestrina. Some prelates said Coccopalmerio had even proposed his secretary to be made bishop.

Monsignor Giuseppe Imperato, from the archdiocese of Amalfi-Cava de' Tirreni, Capozzi’s hometown diocese, said that "if this is all true, that is a great humiliation for the Church of Amalfi-Cava. I pray for Luigi and hope he can prove these accusations are false."

Capozzi declined to speak to the press, the Vatican Gendarmerie is saying it can't release statements, and Vatican spokesman Greg Burke refuses to comment on the matter. But a few reporters have affirmed that their sources inside the Vatican confirm the story is true, and it seems that a net of journalists have been aware of the middle-of-the-night raid for months. And Edward Pentin of National Catholic Register reports that high-ranking Vatican clergy are confirming the veracity of the story:

[A] reliable senior member of the curia has told the Register that he has heard from "multiple sources" that the story is true, including from another senior curial figure.

He said the extent of homosexual practice in the Vatican has "never been worse," despite efforts begun by Benedict XVI to root out sexual deviancy from the curia after the Vatileaks scandal of 2012.

Pentin also quotes statements made by Elmar Mäder, a former commander of the Swiss Guard, that attest to the existence of a gay lobby in the Church. Emiliano Fittipaldi, who recently published a book about Vatican sex scandals, when speaking to Church Militant, had this to say about Mäder: "a former Swiss Guard chief ... complained that his soldiers were constantly harassed for sex, suffering pressure from the cardinals. ... The gay lobby exists ... and it even puts the Pope's life in danger."

Francesco Lepore, a Huffington Post journalist who writes about LGBT issues, wrote an article for GayNews questioning the reasons why this scandal, which dates back four months, was only made public on the day of Pope Francis' last consistory. Was it a coincidence? Or was there a purpose behind what appears to be a media strategy? The article doesn't provide the answers, but Lepore claims he spoke to Capozzi in person in April at the Pio XI clinic in Rome, where he was undergoing treatment for drug abuse, and that Capozzi at the time claimed he was being treated for pneumonia. If the Vatican tried to cover up for him, and if journalists reportedly knew something was going on, then what's behind the fact that Francesco Grana, known in Italy for being an "ultra-Bergoglian" Vatican correspondent, was the one to reveal first-hand the cocaine-induced debauchery?

Most reports state that Capozzi, after his drug recovery treatment, was sent to "a monastery in an unknown location" in Italy. But according to the sources of newspaper Il Messaggero, the choice of monastery has also raised eyebrows: the Montecassino Abbey, whose former Abbot Pietro Vittorelli was also involved in homosexual orgies held in his Rome apartment. Vittorelli is currently being prosecuted for stealing from the abbey and using the money for numerous immoral activities, including traveling to Brazil, in his own words, "to look for d**k."

The news of Capozzi came just a few days after two men decided to complain to Vatican authorities about a prelate who keeps harassing young men in the vicinities of the Church of St. Anne in the Vatican. This has allegedly been happening for months, without any intervention from the Holy See.

Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio published a booklet earlier this year contradicting Church teaching by stating that the sacraments of penance and the Eucharist can be given to adulterers after a period of "discernment." This interpretation of Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia was seen by some as an attempt to curry favor with the pope in the hope of extending Coccopalmerio's tenure until the age of 80. The 79-year-old has long passed the age of resignation, but is now expected to have his retirement hastened by Pope Francis, who was reportedly "furious" on learning about Capozzi.

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