Related Stories
'Secrets of the Vatican' exposes moral crises facing Catholic Church's new pope
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of PBS/Yahoo News
Posted: November 13th, 2017
https://www.yahoo.com/news/frontline-inside-the-vatican-2345...
The Roman Catholic Church is enjoying some of its best press in decades. But, says a new documentary by PBS "Frontline," Secrets of the Vatican, the morally wrenching controversies that threatened to destroy the church's credibility, starting about the time Pope John Paul II died in 2005, have not fully subsided. "Secrets of the Vatican" ... takes an unsparing look at the state of the church Pope Francis inherited from his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. 2012 was an annus horribilis for [Benedict], Antony Thomas, the ... director of the film [said]. A horrible year on many fronts, not just with mounting evidence of financial impropriety at the Vatican bank, but also with incidents of sexual abuse by clergy spreading to more than 20 countries and, further, exposure of church hypocrisy about homosexuality. At the same time, reports emerged from Rome of a gay mafia inside the church that included some of its top officials, who were unafraid to wield political power and at the same time live an openly promiscuous gay lifestyle. There was a lot that came to light, including a man who was, as it were, providing choirboys as rent boys, Thomas said. "Secrets of the Vatican" also looks at the connection between the churchs requirement that its clergy must remain celibate and the high number of sexual abuse incidents among its ranks. Thomas said the films specificity about the nature of sexual abuses was necessary - because its still an overwhelming concern.
Note: Watch this incredibly revealing documentary on the PBS website.A primary insight is that Pope Benedict really did not step down from the papacy so much as flee the job.Then watch an excellent segment by Australia's "60-Minutes" team "Spies, Lords and Predators" on a pedophile ring in the UK which leads directly to the highest levels of government. A suppressed documentary, "Conspiracy of Silence," goes even deeper into this topic in the US. For more, see concise summaries of sexual abuse scandal news articles.
Related Stories
Latest News
Key News Articles from Years Past
