Parish priest the Rev. Mario D’Orlando of the city of Naples was suspended following allegations that he held gay orgies and recruited partners online for sex, while the Rev. Andrea Contin from Padua is facing defrocking over claims he had up to 30 lovers.
Previous reports noted that Contin was exposed after three female parishioners came forward with complaints.
The women revealed earlier this year that the priest had at first offered to help them with problems in their marriages, but then seduced them and pressured them into participating in orgies.
Numerous similar reports from Italy are “challenging the high standards Pope Francis demands of clergy,” according to Religion News Service, and have prompted the pontiff to speak out on the issue.
Crux said late last week that Francis heard the confessions of “a dozen priests,” after which he warned that life, including the priesthood, will always be full of temptations.
“One thing is clear: Temptation is always present in the life of Simon Peter and temptation is always present in our lives. Moreover, without temptation, you cannot progress in faith. In the ‘Our Father,’ we ask for the grace to not fall but not to not be tempted,” the Vatican leader said.
Alberto Melloni, professor of church history at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, offered that scandals in the priesthood are not unusual.
“There is no sin that a cleric doesn’t commit. Scandals to me seem quite normal,” Melloni said.
“And I think the illusion of stopping scandals through better selection of personnel is not very promising and has not yielded great results.” Full report
The Catholic church has been plagued by many other scandals including pedophilia and the pope has always let them off.