A convicted paedophile priest has claimed a gay prostitution ring has been operating within the Holy Roman Church, with clergymen hiring underage rent-boys for sex.
Don Patrizio Poggi, who served a five-year prison sentence for abusing teenage boys at his Rome parish, also told Italian authorities a former Carabinieri police officer recruited boys for nine clergymen, IBTimes reports.
Poggi told the police: “I decided to file this complaint and cooperate with the law after long reflection and after a painful history of abuse and misuse of power that I have overcome thanks to the faith that guides me.”
The 46-year-old, who has complained that the Vatican refused to reinstate him after he completed his prison sentence, added: “I feel obliged to protect the Holy Church and the Christian community since I am aware of grave facts that undermine their integrity and break canon and penal law.”
Poggi has reportedly handed the names of 20 alleged child abusers in the Roman clergy – including four serving priests and a Monsignor - to the authorities.
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So far, four people have formally been placed under investigation by Rome magistrates, The Times reports.
The newspaper adds: "His allegations gained some credibility from the fact he was accompanied by Monsignor Luca Lorusso, an adviser to the Papal Nuncio to Italy, who is himself a confidante of Pope Francis"."
The former police officer is alleged to have procured mostly eastern European immigrant boys from gay discos, saunas and outside a bar near Rome's central rail station known as “Twink”, where he used a vehicle marked “Emergency Blood” to avoid parking fines.
Poggi accuses the same man of “selling consecrated hosts for satanic rites.”
The allegations are rejected by the Vatican, CathNewsUSA reports.
Cardinal Agostino Vallini, head of the Catholic Vicariate of Rome said Poggi’s claims were made from a desire for vengeance.
He said: “The cardinal expresses his full confidence in the magistracy and declares himself fully convinced that this slander will be demolished, demonstrating Poggi’s claims to be untrue.
“God will hold everyone accountable for their deeds.”