UNITED STATES
Huffington Post
Janet Tavakoli
Before Pope Benedict XVI resigned and before Pope Francis I became the first Jesuit pope in the history of the Catholic Church, I published a fiction thriller, Archangels: Rise of the Jesuits. The Jesuits reject the church’s financial and sexual corruption, blackmail the pope with secret documents, and take control of the Vatican to reform the church. It’s a fiction murder mystery, but it is also includes history and well-researched facts.
In my novel, the Jesuits insist that all priests in the Catholic Church–whether they are homosexual or heterosexual–must reaffirm their vows of celibacy. A very small part of the plot references an affair between consenting adult priests. Both ceased the affair and renewed their vows.
One reviewer of Catholic books read an advance copy and wrote me: “…I got to the part where [a priest] explains his affair with [another priest]…I cannot possubly [sic] do a review of a book that includes a homosexual affair between two priests….” Murder and embezzlement — including true crimes — apparently didn’t bother this reviewer, but the mention (in passing) of the adult affair did.
Heterosexuals, Homosexuals, and (a Separate Issue) Predatory Pedophiles
Catholics acknowledge that priests have had mistresses. The Borgias is Showtime’s historical fiction series about the conspiracies and love affairs of the famous family led by Pope Alexander VI. It’s part of documented church history that even popes have had mistresses.
Many Catholics refuse to acknowledge that homosexual men that are not pedophiles are a part of the priesthood, and some of them have affairs with each other. In the early 11th century, Pope Urban II knew Archbishop Ralph of Tours pulled strings so that his lover would be made the Bishop of Orléans. This means they broke their vows of celibacy, just as Pope Alexander VI did. Today, gay priests are part of the top leadership in the Vatican.
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