Hypocrisy of sex abuse witchhunters

e have imported from the USA an obsession with paedophilia," claimed Vittorio Messori, the Italian Catholic writer. "The American Church, that is more politically correct, more avant-garde, more liberal, has become open to everything... the result: conformity to the logic of the world that has brought many homosexuals into seminaries, those who are always looking for male environments, with a corresponding, inevitable explosion of scandals."
Messori, considered by some veteran Vatican journalists to be the "best Catholic writer in the world today", was reacting to a few spurious cases of child abuse by clergy in Italy a rare problem here, more often seen as an Anglo-Saxon disease. For Messori, America is the clear culprit, so I asked him if he could further explain. The cause of child abuse (and homosexuality in the Church which he sees as inextricably linked) stems from political correctness, he believes, a "terrible, dominating mindset" which, he argues, was sown in America in the 1960s. Now, says Messori, who in 1995 co-wrote Pope John Paul 11's bestseller Crossing the Threshold of Hope, if a bishop tells a seminarian to leave a seminary because of homosexual tendencies, "then all the politically correct shout 'Discrimination!' , they call him homophobic and say he is marginalising a category of people who should be protected".
But that's not all the American church has exported. Messori agrees with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, that child abuse scandals are a "terrible business". For Messori, the cardinal's use of the word "business" should be taken literally: abuse cases and mammoth compensation payouts are big business in America, resulting in many priests being falsely accused. And he thinks a similar problem in Europe will worsen. "In Europe, we fear Americans a little because very often there's this business hypocrisy," he says. The American legal system is "barbarous and uncivil", where lawyers stand outside hospitals and chase after patients in the hope of winning millions of dollars in a lawsuit. The Church, he believes, is an easy target because she prefers to settle financially before going to court to minimise damage. The American Church is also wealthy and so offers rich pickings for greedy lawyers.
But Messori concedes it's not all America's fault. Italians, too, are guilty of rank hypocrisy. Homosexual practice is praised, he points out, while paedophilia is condemned. "It's not possible to distinguish between a paedophile, who is considered a monster, and a homosexual who is considered a saint," he says. He then cites the film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, a celebrated figure in Italy who was murdered in mysterious circumstances in the 1970s. -He was a pederast, he even defined himself as a pederast," says Messori, but he scorns the fact that Pasolini has been "beatified", while priests who do the same are demonised as monsters. To give another example, he spoke of Balthus (Balthazar Klossowski de Rola), the PolishFrench modern painter who painted children in the nude and in obscene positions. "Each of his paintings sells for at least a million dollars," Messori argues. "Balthus is considered a genius. So what I want to say is: how can you beatify homosexuality yet demonise paedophilia? Who established who as a monster and who as a saint?"
But Messori doesn't deny the Church has a problem with homosexuality and paedophilia: she always has, he thinks, because gay seminarians will always be attracted to the all-male environments the Church offers. But while he supports the Pope's recent instruction on the admittance of homosexuals into seminaries, he believes the more. urgent task for the Church is to reject political correctness. That sounds good on paper, but changing such an entrenched mindset will take decades.
Rome rarely disappoints, but it did on this occasion. Twenty-seven intrepid cyclists from Canterbury arrived in St Peter's Square on Sunday after a gruelling 1200 mile ride over 16 days along the ancient Via Francigena pilgrimage route. The cyclists, all Anglicans, were raising money to save Canterbury Cathedral. But in contrast to being feted in other towns along the way, their Rome reception was distinctly muted. No formal welcoming party was there when they arrived and, even when a Vatican cardinal was sent to greet them. he seemed unimpressed. Invited to Vespers, they had to cajole officials to let them in. Sadly, but not surprisingly, one young rider, who had put off confirmation in the Church of England because she wanted to become a Catholic, was said to be having "second thoughts".
Rome Contspondent: Edward Pentin E-mail: [email protected]