Elmar Mäder, former commander of the Swiss Guards – the elite forces responsible for the security of the Holy See, recently told a Swiss newspaper that there is a “network of homosexuals” within the Vatican.
"I cannot refute the claim that there is a network of homosexuals. My experiences would indicate the existence of such a thing," Mäder told the newspaper, “Schweiz am Sonntag”.
The 50 year old ex-commander, having served from 2002 until 2008, is of the opinion that the conditions of celibacy coupled with an environment consisting mostly of men, the Roman Curia, is bound to be a “draw for homosexuals, whether they consciously seek it out or unconsciously follow an urge.”
Mäder’s prime objection to this is that “many homosexuals are inclined to be more loyal to each other than to other people or institutions.” He claims that such networks pose grave security concerns, because the “risk of disloyalty would be too high.”
The Vatican’s current policy with regard to homosexuality advocates abstinence, and calls acts of homosexuality “objectively disordered”.
His comments have drawn the criticism of several gay-rights groups. Gays are statistically the least violent social group, according to the chairman of Gaynet, Franco Grillini, and “if the pope were really surrounded by homosexuals, he could sleep easy.”
Reports of homosexuality prevalent in the Vatican have surfaced regularly in the past, and the same Swiss newspaper earlier reported that a former member of the guard was propositioned more than 20 times by members of the clergy. The man was quoted by the newspaper to have said “As the spinach and steak were served, the priest said to me: 'And you are the dessert'," at a dinner in a Rome restaurant.
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