GAY POPES
From St. Peter to Benedict XVI, there have been 265 popes.
Only one has merited his own entry - by historian Louis Crompton, no less - in the glbtq.com online encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture: Pope Julius III (ruled 1550-1555).
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Pope Julius 111 |
Famous as “a skilled expert in canon law,” and a patron of Michelangelo and Palestrina, Julius also “created one of the most notorious homosexual scandals in the history of the papacy.” Just before he became pope, then-Cardinal Giovanni Maria del Monte fell in love with a 15-year old ragamuffin named Innocenzo.
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Innocenzo |
Two years later del Monte, now Pope Julius III, made young Innocenzo a cardinal and his “chief diplomatic and political agent." Though Church scholars insist that Julius only wanted Innocenzo to pet his monkey, Crompton agreed with the Venetian ambassador, who reported that the young “Ganymede” “shared the pope's bedroom and bed.” The “Cardinal-Monkey” Innocenzo’s glory days ended when his papal partner died in 1555. Innocenzo himself died in 1577.
Recent studies suggest that a large percentage of Roman Catholic priests are homosexual. If this is so, it stands to reason that a relatively large number of popes, who are themselves priests, were gay. According to Wayne R. Dynes, who wrote about the “Papacy,” in his Encyclopedia of Homosexuality, “given the custom of monastic sex-segregation and the extension of celibacy to the priesthood in the Western church beginning in the eleventh century, it is not surprising that a number of Roman pontiffs should have been involved in homoerotic sentiments and behavior.”
Noel I. Garde, in his gossipy 1964 book Jonathan to Gide: The Homosexual In History, included John XII (r. 955-964), Benedict IX (r. 1033-1045; 1047-1048), John XXII (r. 1316-34), Paul II (r. 1464-1471), Sixtus IV (r. 1471-1484), Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503), Julius II (r. 1503-1513) and Leo X (r. 1513-1521), along with Julius III, in his list of “gay popes.”
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Pope Alexander V1 |
Though we must take Garde with a rock of salt - some of his “gay popes” were promiscuously heterosexual - his list provided a launching pad for other historians to study the matter and conclude that some of those pontiffs ignored their Church’s rule against homosexuality to the extent that they practiced it themselves.
John XII (r. 955-964), according to Dynes, “modeled himself on the scandalous Roman emperor Heliogabalus, holding homosexual orgies in the royal palace.” But the bisexual John also liked women, which allowed Lynne Yamaguchi Fletcher, in The First Gay Pope and Other Records, to rightly call Benedict IX (r. 1033-1045; 1047-1048) “the first pope known to be primarily homosexual.” Benedict’s pontificate, which “turned the Vatican into a male brothel,” was so scandalous that he was deposed, not once but twice.
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Pope Paul 11 |
The Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries featured a set of intelligent, sophisticated and corrupt popes who did not let their spiritual duties get in the way of having a good time. When Pietro Barbo, who was beautiful and knew it, was elected pope in 1464 he announced that he wished to be called Formosus (“beautiful”). The appalled cardinals talked him out of it, and Barbo took the less pretentious name of Paul II.
According to Dynes, Paul II (1464-1471) “was a collector of statuary, jewelry, and (it was said) handsome youths. Given to the most sumptuous ecclesiastical drag, he was lampooned by his enemies as ‘Our Lady of Pity.’” I must add that Paul II, like most Renaissance popes, was also a skilled administrator and an avid patron of the arts.
Two Renaissance popes of the della Rovere family were accused of “sodomy” by their political and religious enemies. Sixtus IV (r. 1471-1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was notable enough to have the Sistine Chapel named after him. Like Julius III with Innocenzo, Sixtus made his lover Petro Riario - who was also his nephew - a cardinal. According to Crompton, this time writing in his monumental history Homosexuality and Civilization, Sixtus was labeled a “sodomite” in the dispatches of the Venetian ambassador and the diaries of Vatican insiders Stefano Infessura and Johann Burchard.
Another nephew, Giuliano della Rovere, later achieved infamy as the “terrible pope” Julius II (1503-1513). Best known for hiring Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of his uncle’s Chapel, the second Julius, Crompton noted, “was condemned by the Council of Pisa as ‘this sodomite, covered with shameful ulcers.’” Though the Council of Pisa, controlled by Julius’ enemies, was obviously prejudiced, it based its conclusions on “Julius’ fondness for Federigo Gonzaga, Francesco Alidosi, and other young men.” Crompton also quoted another Vatican diarist, Girolamo Priuli, who “reported that Julius disported with Ganymedes ‘without shame’ at Ostia and Città Castellana.”
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Pope John XX111 |
In modern times Pope John XXIII (Angelo Roncalli; r. 1958-1963) and Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini; r. 1963-1978) were thought to have been gay.
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Pope Paul V1 |
Winston Leyland, in Gay Sunshine Interviews Vol. 2, attributes those popes’ relative tolerance of homosexuality to their own sexual orientation; though it could be argued that the Italian Church has traditionally been more tolerant of “sins of the flesh” than the Polish or German (or American) Churches.
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Roger Peyrefitte |
Paul VI was outed by the gay French author Roger Peyrefitte, in a 1976 interview in response to the pope’s antigay edicts. According to Peyrefitte, who knew his way around aristocratic circles in France and Italy, Paul VI had an active gay life while he was Archbishop of Milan. Recalling the incident in a Gay Sunshine interview, Peyrefitte revealed to the press that then-Archbishop Montini “had a relationship with a young movie actor” named Paul, whose name Montini took when he became pope. The future pope also visited “a discreet house” where he and other Milanese notables would “meet boys.” Peyrefitte’s revelations caused a sensation, and a sharp rebuttal from the horrified pope.
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The British royal family are decendants of the borgia pope
ReplyDeleteDear Bishop Buckley,
ReplyDeleteI am the man who posted on here some time ago for your advice in seeking a liaison with a jack-the-lad priest. I have been to several priests to talk about my sexuality but none of them has taken the hint, even when I dropped a handkerchief. I have even tried going to confession, only to find myself alone in the box.
I am wondering whether I am aiming too low (the highest I have tried so far is a monsignor) and whether I should hold out for a pope?
I suppose one issue might be how "attractive" you are.
DeleteBetween 0 and 10 where would you put yourself?
Clerics generally go for "attractive" people !!!
Oh thank you, that would explain it. I personally would put myself in the 'for those who like that sort of thing' class, and a score out of ten defeats me completely.
DeleteWould it help if I applied to the priesthood? The Bishop could cast his eye over me before finding a suitable niche for me.
When gay priests are on gay dating sites they often ask for "stats".
DeleteApparently that means: Age, Height, Weight, Body Type, "Cut" or "Uncut", and sexual preference - "Bottom" or "Top".
I hope this helps.
Gay Priest D&C
Father thank you for your entrée to the world of clerical dating.
DeletePersonally I like a crusty cottage myself, although cut or not isn't really an issue as I have a breadknife.
And my preference has always been medium-rare.
Obviously my dating life is going to look up now. Let me just put on the Byrd for four...
What about a priestly dating site-behind the presbytery.com
DeleteWith very much that sort of thing in mind, when a man asked me on grindr last night if I 'dress up', I sent him a picture of Cardinal Burke. I assumed this would be an immediate hit but strangely he blocked me.
DeleteI'm not doing very well at this, am I?
I was asked a while back in grindr what I was into . Being in a bit of a mood I said blood razorblades and needles . There was me thinking I was a quare smart arse . He messaged back wanting too meet !
DeleteTheres me thinking a grinder is a kitchen utensil....
DeleteWhile being familiar with the phrase "spank the monkey" as an allusion to masturbation, I didn't realise its historical origins.
ReplyDeleteNow, after reading about Julius III and Innocenza all is revealed!
But seriously, looking back in history doesn't it show the foolishness of the RC stance on celibacy?
When I was in the seminary there was a fellow seminarian who used to often say:
Delete"I woke up this morning and there was the bishop looking up at me".
"I woke up this morning and there was the bishop looking up at me".
ReplyDeletePerhaps he wasn't speaking metaphorically!
Or perhaps he was just repeating what Annie Murphy said?
DeleteIn the end its all B. S. In St Pauls time there was no such thing as one "denomination" Leave them to it and let the "others" grow in numbers-cant understand why they are being so quiet
ReplyDeleteCan I ask where the table at the beginning of the post comes from?
ReplyDelete