Priest Arrested for 'Slander' Over 'Gay Sex Ring' at Vatican

Running to the nearest microphone to report sensational stories isn't always the best idea. As the Italian police have now determined it's legally called "slander" and can land you in jail. Catholics call it "calumny" and it can land you in confession.

By Anugrah Kumar , Christian Post Contributor

July 1, 2013|10:34 am

 

A convicted pedophile priest, who named 20 other Catholic priests saying they used underage rent-boys for sex and pointed to an underage gay prostitution ring inside the Holy Roman Church, has been arrested for "making up" the allegations.

 

Don Patrizio Poggi, who spent five years in prison for sexually abusing underage boys at his parish on the outskirts of Rome, was arrested Friday, The Telegraph reported.

 

Italian prosecutors said the claims of the 46-year-old priest were "untrue or based on mere hearsay," and that he had personal enmity with some of the clerics he named. They also charged him with an attempt to coach possible victims to support his claims.

 

"Poggi conceived and put into action a slanderous plan, presenting circumstances that were false," prosecutors were quoted as saying. Poggi was hoping to be reinstate after he finished his prison sentence, but the Vatican did not.

Poggi, former priest of the San Filippo Neri church in Rome, had alleged a former Carabinieri police officer hired boys for clergymen, according to International Business Times. The priest said he wanted to "protect the Holy Church and the Christian community."

Read more here.