It's a situation worthy of The Onion.
How convenient. Or inconvenient. The Vatican conclave of 117 cardinals woke up yesterday morning to see headlines like this:
One of Italy's largest daily newspapers, La Repubblica, announced the little-known fact that the Vatican has a majority ownership of a chic Rome apartment block that houses Italy's largest gay bathhouse.
It also houses one of the Catholic Church's chief homophobes, Ivan Cardinal Dias, India's chief prelate. As well as numerous other priests.
From The Indpendent.UK:
A day ahead of the papal conclave, faces at the scandal-struck Vatican were even redder than usual after it emerged that the Holy See had purchased a €23 million (£21 million) share of a Rome apartment block that houses Europe’s biggest gay sauna.
The senior Vatican figure sweating the most due to the unlikely proximity of the gay Europa Multiclub is probably Cardinal Ivan Dias, the head of the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples, who is due to participate in tomorrow’s election at the Sistine Chapel.
This 76-year-old “prince of the church” enjoys a 12-room apartment on the first-floor of the imposing palazzo, at 2 Via Carducci, just yards from the ground floor entrance to the steamy flesh pot. There are 18 other Vatican apartments in the block, many of which house priests.
Extravagantly Stupid
In an era where scandals plague the Vatican like locust, the last-minute revelation of a major gay sex club under their very noses (as well as other things) may not seem too shocking. What is really shocking, perhaps, is that the Vatican did not think to cover up or dispose of the property prior to the conclave: the very grand apartments of the block - especially those of Cardinal Dias - made the property a prime target for the media, especially after the recent banking scandals and cries of unnecessary extravagance.
And of course, the fact that Cardinal Dias has been the most outspoken prelate against homosexuality and states that gays can be "cured" has the media in stitches:
NY Daily News:
Dias is known for reviling homosexuality, calling it “unnatural” and arguing that gays can be “cured.”
That cure certainly does not require taking the waters at the Europa club, which boasts a Turkish bath, Finnish sauna, whirlpools, massages, “bear parties” and much more.
It is certain that there will be a I-didn't-know disclaimer put out by the cardinal's representative asap, but being silent at this time might be the most prudent approach to the affair: today's Catholic prelates cannot afford to look so clueless as to their own surroundings. They are, after all, men of the world and not cloistered monks. They are already so steeped in sexual scandal that any denial will be taken as completely disingenuous.
Back To The Future
The historical resignation of Benedict XVI set off alarms, the loudest of which was the now infamous 300-page dossier (part of the "Vatileaks" investigation, which, BTW, was also called "the 118th cardinal") which noted factions and infighting among prelates of the Vatican. Among the disclosures was the mention of a gay faction featuring meeting places. And while the Europa Multiclub was not mentioned by name, it certainly would fit the real estate investor's listing: "Large, well-appointed apartments situated in luxury complex that houses a gym, sauna and health spa."
And hosts "bear parties."
This may be the last straw: the papacy will need to be transparent as hell or face suspicion and scorn for years to come. The conclave of 117 cardinals will need to decide if the man they are choosing should be a leader with honesty and integrity or, as was his predecessor, a cover-up king. After all, he will have a lot to cover up, bathhouses not included.
It would seem so with this video.
Pat Robertson, as everyone knows, has been blathering on blissfully, enraptured by his own senility this past decade. His "wisdom" has focused on demonic Halloween candy and clothes from Good Will, slatternly wives being the greatest cause of divorce and the assassination of Hugo Chavez (the death of whom, yesterday, must have been bittersweet - Chavez didn't die the want Robertson would have liked). His righteous arrogance may be cloaked in pudding-faced humility, but it oozes out of his pores just the same.
It is the kind of righteous arrogance that helps him make statements like the one in the video below
He calls environmentalists "crazy" and calls their goal to "destroy everything they think is polluting ..." a religion. Watch it.
And while you're at it, picture the bulk of his followers: little old ladies in nursing homes touching their TV screens in hopes that Pat Robertson will cure their hemorrhoids.
Media Matters
Blog ››› January 16, 2013 3:09 PM EST ››› TIMOTHY JOHNSON
The National Rifle Association has released a four-and-a-half minute video in response to the proposals to curb gun violence unveiled by the Obama administration. Chock-full of fast cuts and given a heart-pounding soundtrack, the ad attacks members of the media for criticizing the NRA and calls Obama a hypocrite for protecting his children with armed guards.
In the Great Gun Debate, the NRA stands ...small: it's new efforts to engender more guns in schools has sparked a national furor and backfired against the organization.
We hope. But in all the furor over the NRA's criticism of Obama's Secret Service security for his two daughters Sasha and Malia, one factor has not yet been addressed: President Barack Obama has received more death threats than any other president and his family has received them as well.:
"...a woman who knew the Obamas' Hawaii vacation itinerary and threatened to "blow away" the First Lady was arrested a mile from where the First Family was staying. Others have threatened the Obama girls, Sasha and Malia."
Numerous death threats may be one reason why the President renewed a lifetime protection plan for himself and future presidents - a benefit that was stripped in 1994. Former President Bush now has more protection as well.
Protection From Whom?
Ever since the assassination of President McKinley, the Secret Service has had the responsibility of protecting Presidents and their families from harm. Part of its duties is to monitor any threats against the families. There is no doubt, however, that the source of a majority of the threats against the lives of the current President and his family is racially and "survivalist" motivated: the paranoia of America has reached fever pitch and that has resulted in a greater number of threats.
From Imprecatory Prayers to Gun Site ads to Glenn Beck
Since 2008, Barack Obama has been called "demonspawn" and the "Anti-Christ" by Right wing pastors across the country. "Imprecatory prayers" (praying for the death or harm to come to someone) were voiced from pulpits (Faithful Word Baptist Church comes to mind) and more pastors have been pictured with guns as a statement of the Second Amendment than ever before.
Paranoia has hit the streets of America with pastors like Gary Cass ("You can't be Christian and not own a gun") and it is to pastors like Cass and Hagee that the President's protection of his family can be seen as a kind of reverse paranoia. In fact, with the likes of gun-toting pastors, it is surprising that the President is not even more suspicious of the Christian Right and its vehement adherence to the Second Amendment.
As well, Christian Right darlings like Sarah Palin have used gun sites and sharp-shooting promotions to foster animosity towards other politicians. The now infamous ad against Gabrielle Giffords using gun sites and a "hit list" sparked other ads against hated "liberal" politicians calling for stricter gun control laws.
The heated rhetoric of Right wing media such as Glenn Beck is also under scrutiny: the incident of an armed man about to blast away the ACLU and the Tides Foundation certainly indicated that President Obama was just as much as target in the minds of the Rowen Williamses of America.
Hypocrite?
The NRA as enabler for paranoia has been substantial. and well-documented. It's inability to correlate incidents such as the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, the arrest of Rowan Williams and the death threats to President Obama to its own demonizing is oddly pernicious to its own image, but also shows that it is slowly divorcing itself from reality:
the President and his family need protection from adherents of the NRA.
