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Gay news: Rugby player, former male model and 'two black Cuban lads' involved
Sex scandal has rocked the Vatican
Vatican stunned by gay sex scandal
A sex scandal at the heart of the Pope's household rocked the Vatican yesterday when it emerged that a chorister had been sacked for allegedly procuring male prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting.
Angelo Balducci, a Gentleman of His Holiness, was caught on a police wiretap allegedly negotiating with Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, a 29-year-old Vatican chorister, over the precise physical characteristics of the men he wanted brought to him.
The Guardian reports that it is in possession of transcripts suggesting that at least 10 men may have been procured for Balducci, including "two black Cuban lads", a former male model from Naples and a rugby player from Rome. At least one of them was studying for the priesthood.
Balducci, a senior Italian government official, was arrested on February 10 for suspected involvement in widespread economic corruption, and it was during this investigation that wiretaps revealed his alleged sexual activity.
Balducci is also a senior advisor to the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, the department that oversees the church's worldwide missionary activities, and a member of the Gentlemen of His Holiness, the ceremonial ushers of the papal household.
The Carabinieri's report for prosecutors in Florence investigating the corruption scandal revealed Balducci's secret life and named Nigerian-born Ehiem, a member of the choir that sings in St Peter's when the Pope is not officiating, as one of "two individuals who, it is maintained, may form part of an organised network, especially active in [Rome], of exploiters or at least facilitators of male prostitution".
According to Italian press reports, Ehiem lost his job on Wednesday after details of the Florence investigation became known to the Vatican. In an interview published today by the news magazine Panorama, he said of Balducci: "He asked me if I could procure other men for him. He told me he was married and that I had to do it in great secrecy."
The Vatican's response to the scandal is unclear because, according to one source, there was no provision for the dismissal of a Gentleman of His Holiness. Another said: "We shall wait for the judiciary's definitive verdict."
