Vatican enraged by magazine's confessional expose
Pastor Dale Morgan
Vatican enraged by magazine's confessional expose*
By Philip Pullella
Reuters
Wednesday, January 31, 2007; 9:06 AM
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - An Italian magazine report which sought to
prove that what some priests tell Catholics in the confessional is not
always what the Church preaches in public has enraged the Vatican.
To write the cover story in this week's L'Espresso, reporter Riccardo
Bocca visited 24 churches in five large Italian cities and confessed
sins he never committed or invented ethical dilemmas for the priest.
In one confessional in Naples he told the priest he felt guilty over his
father's death after the family allowed a doctor secretly to detach a
respirator. The father had for years been paralyzed, confined to a bed
and unable to breathe autonomously.
Although euthanasia is officially condemned by the Church, the priest
told him not to worry too much because God would be the ultimate arbiter.
"If I had a wife, a father or a son who for years was alive only because
of artificial life support, I would pull the plug too," said the priest,
who then gave him absolution.
In another confessional box he faked being HIV positive and was told by
a priest that whether or not he used a condom in order not to pass the
virus to the woman he loved was "a very personal matter of conscience."
The Church teaches officially that abstinence and monogamy -- not
condoms -- are the best way to stop the spread of AIDS.
The author said the article was a piece of investigative reporting, but
the Vatican reacted with scathing vehemence.
NO DISRESPECT
An editorial in the Vatican's newspaper, l'Osservatore Romano, said the
report had "profaned" the sacrament of Penance, also known as
Reconciliation, in the name of "an ignoble scoop."
"Shame -- there is no other word to express our shock over something
that is disgusting, unworthy, disrespectful and particularly offensive,"
the newspaper said.
Bocca said it was not his intention to show disrespect for the Catholic
church or its sacraments.
"What I wanted to show was the difficulties facing these priests as they
try to carry out their duties in good conscience," he told Reuters. "The
differences I found were shocking even to me."
On homosexuality, one priest told him: "Well, homosexuality is a
tendency which is a valid human expression. There are even homosexual
priests and lesbian nuns."
Asked if he should openly declare his homosexuality, the priest told
him: "Generally the best thing to do is to be yourself. Come clean. Do
what the English call 'coming out'."
The Church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin but homosexual acts are.
Apart from abortion -- which all 24 priests unanimously condemned -- he
received conflicting advice on moral issues such as divorce, stem-cell
research and prostitution.