October 14, 2007 | Sex & Society

Gay priest "only doing research"

A senior at the Vatican was removed from his post after being filmed by the Italian La7 network seducing a young man and claiming that there was no sin in gay sex. The incident was caught on a hidden camera, set up after a young man approached the network with information on several priests cruising online in gay chatrooms.

After the network aired the footage on October 1, the Vatican attempted to mitigate any negative publicity by reviewing the conduct of the monsignor."Higher-ups are evaluating the situation with the necessary reserve and with the obligatory respect for the person involved, even if this person has erred," a spokesman said. The Vatican "had to intervene decisively and with the severity required by conduct not compatible with priestly service and with the mission of the Holy See."

Of course, Monsignor Tommaso Stenico claims he was only doing God's work... 

"I only pretended I was gay to study how priests are seduced. There are people who go after them…I really believe there is a diabolical plan by groups of Satanists."

"It's all false. It was a trap," Stenico went on to claim. "I was a victim of my own attempts to contribute to cleaning up the church with my psychoanalyst work."

So he's saving the world by sleeping with one young gay man at a time? Sweet!