As Pope Francis calls for the clergy to live up to higher standards, yet another pile of allegations have come to the surface. Included in these are claims of orgies, involvement in gay porn, and clergymen hiring prostitutes from the internet.
One Italian priest is now being investigated for his involvement in orgies being organized at his rectory as well as allegations that he has pimped out up to 15 of his lovers. Then, in the northern city of Padua, yet another priest is alleged to have taken up to 30 lovers.
Reverend Mario D’Orlando has been summoned by the city’s archbishop due to claims that he was involved in gay orgies and used the internet to find sexual partners that he paid cash for. However, D’Orlando denies the claims, but he has been removed from his position as an investigation continues.
Rev. Andrea Contin, from the parish of San Lazzaro, who is surrounded by claims that he has taken up to 30 lovers, some of which he is alleged to have taken to a French swingers’ resort, has even had a woman come forward stating that she was involved with him. Furthermore, she explained that the reverend actually carried around bondage equipment and invited other priests to sex parties. Other allegations assert that the 48-year-old had been making pornographic home videos bearing the names of various popes.
Complaints have been made to the local bishop just last year, but the church authorities did not investigate them. Bishop Claudio Cipolla of Padua visited Latin America to deal with the scandal, and explained,
“I am incredulous and pained by the accusations,” Cipolla said at a news conference last month. “This is unacceptable behavior for a priest, a Christian and even for a man.”
He further explained that he had spoken with Pope Francis who asked him to remain strong. Pope Francis has supposedly made various efforts to raise the standards for ethical behavior in the church while maintaining that he understands the flaws of man. Just a few weeks ago, he spoke regarding the topic.
“Temptation is always present in our lives. Moreover, without temptation you cannot progress in faith,” he said.
Alberto Melloni, who is a professor of church history at the University of Modena commented on the issue, and according to him, scandals are not surprising. “There is no sin that a cleric doesn’t commit. Scandals to me seem quite normal. And I think the illusion of stopping scandals through better selection of personnel is not very promising and has not yielded great results,” he said. Of course, he is right, but there is a definite line in the sand. As of now, the pope has not commented on how he will handle the recent scandals, however, it is obvious that something will have to be done in order to thwart church corruption.
Jasper and Sardine 
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