Friday 31 January 2014

LETTER FROM A MALE ROMAN ESCORT

LETTER FROM A MALE ROMAN ESCORT

Dear Bishop Buckley,

You may be surprised to know that your Blog is being read by people in Rome and even in the Church in Rome?
For obvious reasons I have to ask you not to publish my real name. I am in my late 30’s and from the US but have been living in Rome now for nearly 18 years. I came here to study for the priesthood but the circumstances I want to tell you about led to my giving up my priesthood studies. I now realise that I do not have a vocation to the priesthood.
From the age of 15 I felt called to the priesthood. After finishing high school I applied to my local bishop to study for the priesthood and was accepted into the seminary. When I was 21 the bishop sent me to do my theological studies in Rome. I fell in love with Rome and still love it.
I have known since puberty that I was gay. I had one or two brief encounters with other guys when I was in high school. In the seminary the majority of us were gay and I fell in love with another seminarian there and we had a full relationship. The rector of the seminary found out about it and he expelled my friend but for some reason allowed me to stay. The other seminarians said that I was kept because I was so handsome?
When I came to Rome I was surprised at how many of the seminarians (and priests) here are gay and actively gay. The students from your own college, The Irish College were especially active on the gay scene.
I got into the gay scene and had many encounters with seminarians and priests. One of the priests introduced me to a visiting bishop and when he came to Rome I met him for dinner and stayed overnight with him in his hotel and we had sex.

This whole part of my life then developed into providing sexual services for priests, monsignors, bishops and even higher ranking church dignitaries. You would be shocked to hear of the people I looked after sexually – right up to the College of cardinals.
I came to realise that I did not have a vocation to the priesthood and I found my faith in God being challenged by the conduct of Rome’s clergy, bishops etc. For a while I gave up on God completely.
For providing these sexual services for high tanking church officials  living in and visiting in Rome I was showered with money and gifts – gifts like a Rolex watch, an Apple iPad and even a car.

When I left the seminary one of my senior clergy contacts provided me with a small apartment to live in and has time has gone along I have arranged to buy that apartment and should own it in the next 2 to 3 years.
I have an Italian partner and he knows about the “work” I do for the clergy. He is not completely happy about it and I intend to give it up when I have the apartment paid off fully. I would like to get a normal job and settle down with my partner and have a civil partnership.
I also realise that I am nearly 40 and even though I am still fit and handsome (the gym 3 times a week) the time is coming when I will be replaced by younger guys.
I have begun to go to Mass again and pray and realise that I must not mix up God with church people. I have been totally shocked by the corruption of the church in Rome and Italy.
I have read your book A Thorn in the Side. It was given to me by an Irish priest. I also know from the internet that you have recently had other difficulties. But at least you are who you say you are and you are open and honest about your life. For that I admire you.
If I come to Ireland I would like to meet you for a chat and if you come to Rome we could meet for coffee or lunch. I imagine you avoid Rome like the plague J

Please pray for me and my partner that we can settle down and that I can put the last 15 – 20 years behind me. Do not misunderstand me. I am not a victim. I played the game willingly. But as I get near 40 I realise that life is too short for games and I need to develop a totally new life and career. 

Maybe like Mary Magdala I can meet the Lord in a new way and make the rest of my life more meaningful and productive. Take care. ……………………… 

BISHOP PAT REPLIES:

DEAR...........

Thank you for your very unexpected email with all it's honesty and truthfulness. Nothing you said came as any surprise or shock to me as you can well imagine.

I am glad that after the years you have had you are on the verge of creating a new life for you and your partner. Like you say, you were not a "victim" as such - but you were very young?

Now you are older and wiser and you are realising that there is more to life than pleasure and money. In fact some of the unhappiest people I know are rich!

These past few days I have been thinking and praying a lot about King David from the Bible. David was a sinner - he not only committed adultery but murdered his mistress' husband. And yet God forgave him and used him greatly. The great thing about God is that when he FORGIVES - He FORGETS.

I have loved Mary Magdaly since I was 21 - forty years ago now. In fact I placed her image on my ordination card when I was ordained at 24. I have also celebrated Mass in Magdala in her honour.

You and your partner would be very welcome here at my house any time. No, I do not go to Rome often. I would not be beloved there. But if I do I will let you know.

I had been hoping that Francis might have named me one of the new cardinals :-) But I will just have to wait until the next consistory :-)

I wish you well in your future. Thank you for writing to me and trusting me with your name and personal details. We can keep in touch.

+ Pat 

5 comments:

  1. Dear ? I hope you and your partner get the happiness you both seek.Mike

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    1. Caro Fratello Romano. I am interested to hear your story being a former Irish College Student myself from 1981-1987. I can not contradict what you say but I honestly saw no gay activity nor was I aware of any during my time there. You also say you met a visiting Irish Bishop in his hotel...again my experience is that Irish visiting bishops to rome stayed in the Irish College and not out and about in the city. May I wish you God's blessing on your life's journey-Sean

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  2. Dear Pat

    Thank you for publishing the Male Roman Escort. In so doing you are helping to shed light on a world that has existed for decades, if not for centuries, at the heart of Power. And Power like no other on this earth is to be found in Rome. I too studied in Rome and as a bright young thing was on the receiving end of many an admiring Curial eye, as well as wandering hand, though never to the extent that this young man experienced. I never actually slept with a bishop or above. Perish the thought! So many of them seemed not to know how to brush their teeth, and practice good oral hygiene, they had bad breath in other words. In Rome the whole power system is based on patronage, with Bishops and Cardinals "spotting" bright, good-looking and eager young seminarians, whom they promote to be their secretaries after ordination. These young men, loosing their looks and expanding their waist lines, become senior priests and Vicars General, curial officials and the like, and then hey presto! as if by magic are named bishops, archbishops and cardinals. They then, now having achieved the power, in turn spot bright, young, eager seminarians, and the whole cycle of patronage is enacted once more. In some ways it is all very Italian, but it exists in every diocese and every country. Look at how many bishops secretaries become bishops. Something else is needed if there is to be any credibility in the Church. Certainly Francis is up against it. As a right wing and conservative Jesuit superior, who had to be removed from his post he was so unpopular and divisive with his confrere, Father Bergolio was spotted by JPII and made an Auxiliary Bishop , and climbed the greasy pole to be Cardinal. Apparently he changed in that process, becoming a great champion of the poor and downtrodden. Now he is Pope, the supreme font of all patronage. Has he a chance in changing things? The jury is still out. He has cleared out the most blatant wrong doers like the vastly corrupt Secretary of State, and has removed some of the openly gay monsignori in the papal court and ceremonial office, but he has a huge mountain to climb and many in the Vatican are hoping that he will pop his clogs before too long, accidentally, or on purpose!
    I admire and commend the courage and honesty of your correspondent and wish he and his partner well. Keep up the good work. In many ways these blogs are like the work of the whistle blower Edward Snowden, shining a light on dark places. Vatican Insider

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  3. My Lord Bishop Buckley, greetings to you, Your Excellency,

    I am a high-profile senior cleric in Northern Ireland and I am very disillusioned with the RCC. I am about to pack my trunk and go. You see, I have a clear calling to be a bishop but I am thwarted at every turn. Bergolio has scuppered my chances of even becoming a monsignore and I look so good in cerise - it really sets off my cyanosed complexion.

    I am hoping, My Lord, if I join your swelling ranks, that you deign to grant me the boon of episcopal consecration. You and I would make quite a team, quite the pair. We could ride all over Ireland together. Trust me, should I go over to Larne, it will have a domino effect. There are thousands of similar natured clergy just waiting to burst forth and proudly take their stand with My Lord Buckley.

    However, like Moses of old, my Lord, the governance would be too much for you and that is where my assistance will be invaluable. Together, unlike Moses and MLK, you and I, we will see the promised land!

    I also have a very close friend, a very talented musician, who also will unite with us. He is very good on organs - a dab hand in fact - and would like to know the specification of your organ, it's size and so on. He would like to pop over some day soon and give it a good old rattle.

    We three, together, will make The Oratory, Larne, a centre of Liturgical and Musical excellence unparalleled throughout Christendom!

    So what say you, Most Excellent Lord? We could meet in the URC for a few old bottles of Nocino and discuss strategies, eh what? Expectans, expectavi...

    Yours ever so humbly and devotedly....

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  4. So Rev Fr wants to be Rev Me lord fr....? Lots of lordships being bandied about. Does this gent want to be a walking christmas tree or a functioning servant of God's people. On the surface I,m sceptical but I'm open to my mind being changed...Sean

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