Second sex scandal in Rome! Pope asks forgiveness... from whom?

Wow! Another distraction from the work of the Synod on the Family currently splitting the fathers into two warring camps. (See "13 Cardinals write Pope to denounce manipulation of Synod" WWW 14/10/15)

First we had the scandalous affair of Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, a Polish theologian who, for the past 17 years, has been living in Rome. Until he was abruptly dismissed on October 3rd, he had worked as an official in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith! He was dismissed from his position in the CDF and relieved from teaching assignments in pontifical universities in Rome, following his coming out as a flaming homosexual. See "Priest in Vatican's Gay Mafia outs himself, gets fired" (WWW 3/10/15)

A Vatican spokesthingy bearing a passing resemblance to Fr. Federico Lombardi said at the time that Msgr Charamsa's high-profile coming out on the eve of the Synod was "grave and irresponsible". He was accused of trying to exert "undue media pressure" on the bishops' debate on family issues, including the Church's position on homosexuality and homosexuals.

Today, Pope Francis asked for forgiveness on Wednesday for scandals at the Vatican and in Rome, an apparent reference to the case of Msgr Charamsa and a scandal exposed in the Italian media last week about an order of priests who run a parish in an upscale neighbourhood of Rome.

According to Reuters, parishioners of Santa Teresa d'Avila parish wrote to local Church officials alleging that a clergyman there had had encounters with "vulnerable adults". Newspapers said these took place in an adjacent park often frequented by male prostitutes. Their letter said they had assembled evidence about the clergyman's illicit activities and were furious to discover that, instead of being disciplined, he had been transferred to another part of Italy.

The Holy Father was less specific. During his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis said, "Today...in the name of the Church, I ask you for forgiveness for the scandals that have occurred recently either in Rome or in the Vatican." That's all.

Asked what the Pope meant, Father Lombardi -- for it was he, as always -- was unwilling or unable to say which scandals His Holiness had in mind. But, he said, said Francis wanted to reach out to ordinary people who are "disturbed or pained" when they read about scandals caused by "the Church or men of the Church".

Further reading: "'Who am I to judge gays?', asks Pope" (WWW 29/7/13)