Many thanks to Michael Bayly at Wild Reed for cluing us in to the existence of this 'remarkable' video of the Pope watching topless male acrobats perform. The irony is just too extreme to process, and too funny for words. Pay close attention to the Pope's ardent gaze as he watches the acrobats depart. The incident would be rather sweet were it not for the continuing harm being done by this Pope's inability to come to terms with the perfectly natural and holy phenomenon of same sex attraction (not to mention the sex abuse crisis). The Cardinals and Vatican functionaries politely clapping in the background only add to the surreal nature of the scene. In light of the sex abuse scandal and all it has revealed to the world about the secret sex life of many priests (abusers and not), is this really the kind of entertainment the Vatican wishes the world to see the Pope enjoying with such relish? The naivete is astonishing. Clueless would be my word. Yet I can't resist feeling a pang of sympathy for the old Pontiff, entrapped by layers of denial and false religious ideology. There is something rather tender and sad about it all, until one remembers the horrific suffering such blindness has engendered in the lives of gay people everywhere, especially the young. And then sympathy gives way to indignation and the need to hold such leaders accountable.
For Michael's valuable commentary, click here.
For Michael's valuable commentary, click here.
2 comments:
Did you see Benedict's official Vatican portrait? The nearly naked Adonis-Christ statue painted into the background is unmistakably homoerotic.
To me, it suggests that some kind of disavowed homoeroticism sustains some part of not only the Vatican's ideology, but even the Catholic world vision---beginning with the celibate priesthood.
Well I can certainly see what the Pope found so attractive. Great figures of men.
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