AFP
October 13, 2007
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jYVPUzk2tEEdguMD_TRYI3LzaY0w
Rome (AFP) — The Vatican has suspended a senior cleric who declared his homosexuality on a television programme, even though his face and voice were made unrecognisable, Italian media reported Saturday.
"His superiors are treating this situation with the required discretion and respect due to the person concerned, even if this person has committed errors," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told the Italian news agency ANSA.
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| Worshippers gather at Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican City |
"The authorities are obliged to act with the necessary severity against behaviour that is incompatible with religious service and the mission of the Holy See," Lombardi said.
The daily La Repubblica did not name the priest but identified him as an official around 60 years old in the Congregation for the Clergy, the Vatican department which manages the 400,000 Catholic priests across the world.
Four gay priests appeared in the television programme broadcast on October 1 on the national television channel La7. All had their faces hidden from the camera and their voices electronically disguised.
But the suspended prelate made the mistake of giving the televised interview in his Vatican office, which was identified by other staff, La Repubblica said.
In the interview, he said that he did not regard himself as a sinner, but had to be discreet in order not to attract the attention of his superiors.
The story took another turn later Saturday when Petrus, an online newspaper following Pope Bemedict XVI's pontificate, named him as Tommaso Stenico, a former employee, and cited a letter from him denying he was gay.
"I said I was homosexual in order to unmask those who really are," according to extracts of a long letter from Stenico published by the website.
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