HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: AN INTERVIEW WITH A WHISTLEBLOWER
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SPECIAL REPORT
By David W. Virtue, DD
February 23, 2026
Gene Thomas Gomulka is a one of a kind Roman Catholic. A retired Navy Captain/Chaplain, author, investigative reporter, and screenwriter, he is also a sex abuse victims’ advocate who helps those who were sexually abused or unjustly reprised against by Roman Catholic Church leaders and their attorneys for reporting abuse. Gomulka's work often goes against the mainstream and Catholic media sources, and he is known for his investigative reporting and advocacy. Not surprisingly his blog cites John 18:37; “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Fr. Gomulka makes no claims to being totally like Jesus, but he is a disciple of Jesus, and he wants his Church and the world to know the truth about how damaging the whole homosexual enterprise has been to his church, and warns that it will all go badly if the Lavender Mafia that now runs the Vatican is not dealt with expeditiously.
What he says about his church is not dissimilar to what VOL has been saying about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, that is, the growing encroachment of pan sexuality into the life of Western Anglicanism, and what will happen if it ever takes hold in the Global South, which to date has not done so. With a new (woman) Archbishop of Canterbury committed to an inclusive church theology, the pressure is on.
VIRTUEONLINE interviewed Fr. Gomulka for his views on the state of the Roman Catholic Church today.
VOL: As a sex abuse victim’s advocate and whistleblower who was coerced into leaving ministry after confronting your ecclesiastical superiors for underreporting and covering up the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults, what do you see as the main cause for the ongoing sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church that has led millions of baptized Catholics to leave the Church?
GOMULKA: According to Kim Haines-Eitzen, professor of ancient Mediterranean religions, “The Catholic Church has a long history of actively covering up sexual abuse, including the silencing of victims.” She went on to point out that, “Systemic abuse can be found in the literary and historical records going back to the very beginnings of the Catholic Church, and outrage at corruption in the church is part of what led to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.” Interestingly, both the 16th century and current 21st century have witnessed the election of homosexual popes who were accused of engaging in or covering up the sexual abuse of young men.
While Pope Julius III (1550-1555) was reported to have “shared [his] bedroom and bed” with 15-year-old Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte whom he made a cardinal at the age of 17, Pope Francis was likewise accused of abusing young Jesuit novices in Argentina. In 2024, just before his excommunication, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò wrote, “Bergoglio himself committed the same abuses [as McCarrick] when he was Master of Novices of the Society of Jesus in Argentina, as personally confided to me by one of his former novices.” Bergoglio’s sexual involvement with novices was corroborated earlier in 2015 by an Argentine priest working in the U.S. who graphically described to two American priests how Bergoglio allegedly engaged in sodomy with a novice in Córdoba.
The recent sex abuse crisis in the U.S. has claimed far more victims and cost American Catholics far more than has been reported by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Catholic media. While it was reported that the Catholic Church in the U.S. has paid out about $5 billion in abuse settlements and legal fees, it is interesting that two California dioceses alone, Los Angeles and San Diego, are reported to have paid out $2.3 billion in settlements and legal fees. If one were to do the math, one would deduce that with 5.7 million Catholics in the Los Angeles and San Diego dioceses that has paid out $2.3 billion, the cost per Catholic would be $404.00. If the remaining 196 dioceses in the U.S. with 56.3 million Catholics were to have the same amount of abuse, they would end up paying $22.7 billion. Hence, the total amount for 198 dioceses and eparchies would be $25 billion! The only reason many dioceses are not being bankrupt like over 40 dioceses and religious orders today is because most states have not lifted their statutes of limitations for sexual abuse cases like California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Vermont, Maine, and others.
The more important issue is how did this all come about. What caused so many priests to abuse so many children and vulnerable adults, mainly teenage boys? Catholic Church leaders, the majority of whom are homosexuals and part of the problem and not the solution, will not like my explanation.
Fathers Robert Kelly and Martin Cingle with whom I served in a large parish from 1975 to 1980, were accused years later of having abused teenage boys before they were removed from ministry in 2015. Both priests attended high school seminaries in the early 1960s during which time many priests were known to have groomed innocent teenage young men like Bob and Marty who felt they had a calling to the priesthood. The deceptive and fraudulent idea behind high school (minor) seminaries, was to “recruit young boys before they discovered girls.” Had they had an emotional, physical, or sexual experience with a girl, it was feared they would change their minds about becoming priests.
By grooming and exposing them to gay sex during their period of psychosexual development, Bob, Marty, and countless vulnerable seminarians often interpreted what they experienced in the bedrooms of priests and seminarians as expressions of “love and friendship.” However, knowing that their parents, relatives, and friends might not approve of what they had been doing behind closed doors, they kept it a secret. Now that they self-identified as homosexuals, they did not want to return home only in time to be outed. Hence, they decided to stay the course, get ordained, and hide their same- sex attraction.
Once Bob and Marty were ordained, they attempted to groom teenagers in their parishes just as they were groomed. Many of their victims never told their parents or others about what happened to them. Some were afraid that no one would believe them, or they were ashamed and felt guilty that they placed themselves in a situation where this occurred. If teenage boys later report abuse, it is often only after many years. One former altar boy of mine who was abused when he was 14 by a former seminarian from our parish did not inform me and his spouse of his abuse until he was 60. I have yet to meet one predator priest who himself was not abused himself.
When the sexual revolution took place in the 1960s, it led to the closure of most high school seminaries. Deprived of a large pool of high school recruits, Church leaders made up for the loss by lowering their recruiting standards and accepting homosexual candidates that in the past would have been rejected. Because there were still many college age seminarians who lacked sexual experience with women, a number of college and even naïve theology students were groomed who, after a gay encounter with a faculty member or seminarian, felt the only way they could hide their homosexual identity was to be ordained and to live “in the closet of the sacristy.”
With the AIDS crisis in the 90s, many homosexuals, fearing for their lives, saw the priesthood as a safe haven. When then-Monsignor Edwin O’Brien was the rector of the North American College (NAC) in Rome (1990-1994), New Jersey psychiatrist and AIDS expert, Dr. Joseph Barone, reported that one in 12 NAC seminarians tested HIV-positive.
If the sexual revolution in the 1960s impacted the recruitment of heterosexuals, the presence of growing numbers of homosexuals in seminaries and the priesthood had a harmful effect upon the retention of straight seminarians and priests. How many straight priests want to live with priests who bring their boyfriends home to the rectory for sex, or serve with gay pastors who proposition, or even drug and sodomize seminarians like Mark Brooks and Wiesław Walawender? Heterosexual priests and seminarians who report this behavior are often transferred or dismissed by closeted homosexual bishops who, in many cases, are sexually involved with their own gay clergy. The video, Clerical Orgies: The Rome Connection, captures how homosexual bishops, priests, and seminarians engage in sex together both before and after their ordination without consequences.
As former seminarians and novices continue to report sexual predation and homosexual misconduct in seminaries and houses of formation as I document in, “Addressing the Present Day Culture of Sexual Predation and Cover-Ups in U.S. Seminaries,” it is clear that homosexual bishops, seminary rectors, and vocation directors are hoping they can recruit enough candidates to keep the Church afloat while they are still alive and are able to continue enjoying pampered lives at the expense of “paying, praying, and obeying” Catholics. As long as there are enough American and foreign-born priests to keep the money coming in to fill their diocesan coffers, closeted homosexual bishops will continue, with the support of the Pope and Vatican officials, continue to cover up abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.
It should be noted that when married Eastern Rite Catholic clergy were forbidden by the Vatican to exercise a ministry outside of their native lands with the promulgation of Ea Semper in 1907, and Cum Data Fuerit in 1929, this led to the ordination of as many so-called “celibate” homosexuals as were being ordained in the Roman Catholic Church. Insofar as Sociologist, Rev. Dr. Paul Sullins, in his 2018 report to the U.S. bishops, “Is Sex Abuse by Catholic Clergy Related to Homosexuality?” showed a direct correlation between an increase in clerical abuse cases and an increase in homosexual clergy, it should not come as a surprise that the Eastern Rite Eparchies in the U.S. reported almost identical rates of abuse and abuse settlement costs as Roman Catholic Dioceses. However, with the 2014 lifting of the ban on the ordination of married men to the priesthood in Eastern Catholic churches in the diaspora, the Eastern Rite Churches are witnessing an increase in ordinations of mainly married men; a decrease in the acceptance and ordination of homosexuals; and fewer cases of sexual abuse. This development shows that mandatory celibacy is not only responsible for fewer straight vocations, but is also indirectly responsible for the Church’s sex abuse crisis that in over 80 percent of the cases involve male victims, none of whom are being abused or sodomized by married heterosexual priests like those being ordained today in the Eastern Catholic Churches.
The scandalous lives of homosexual popes like Leo X, Julius III, and others that led millions of Catholics in the 16th and 17th centuries to leave the Church is happening today. However, instead of converting to Protestantism, the Orthodox Church, or another faith group, most Catholics, scandalized by the ongoing abuse crisis, are becoming religious “Nones,” the largest single group in the U.S. today.
VOL: You have made some pretty ‘out their’ remarks about cardinals, archbishops, even popes about their homosexuality. You have even accused Pope Leo of being a homosexual! That’s a strong charge to make. Have you faced pushback and what if any are the legal ramifications of your charges?
GOMULKA: If I were to accuse you of being a heterosexual, I don’t think you would sue me. However, if I falsely accused you of committing adultery, then you should sue me. Today when members of the LGBTQ community, supported by the mainstream media, and even some pro-LGBTQ Catholic bishops, priests, and laity say it’s quite fine to be a homosexual, how can a homosexually oriented cleric sue me simply for accusing him “of being a homosexual?”
Unfortunately, Pope Francis did not want to admit in 2013 to reporters on the flight back from Rio that his close friend, Monsignor Battista Ricca, was guilty of cohabitating with Patrick Haari in Uruguay; getting caught with a prostitute in an elevator; and being beaten up in a gay park. Hence, when he said, “Who am I to judge?” the media deceptively reinterpreted his statement to have been about a person’s sexual orientation, and not his behavior.
Because I distinguish clearly in my writing between orientation and behavior, as I did when I testified before Congress on the Department of Defense Homosexual Exclusion Policy, most people know that I don’t judge people on their orientation, but on their behavior, particularly if involves the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults. Pope Leo has nothing to worry about from me unless I receive either sworn testimony from victims in Peru stating that he sexually abused them, or proof that he was or is sexually involved with another bishop, priest, or seminarian.
Recall that Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò reported, “Bergoglio himself committed the same abuses [as McCarrick] when he was Master of Novices of the Society of Jesus in Argentina, as personally confided to me by one of his former novices.” In response, Pope Francis excommunicated Viganò. Had the Pope sued Viganò for libel, this could have opened him up to discovery which the Pope wanted to avoid. Also, had Viganò been sued, I could be called to testify that an Argentine priest, working in a Midwestern parish in the U.S., made a similar claim in 2015 about Bergoglio’s sexual behavior with vulnerable novices.
One New Jersey bishop threatened to sue me for what I wrote about him in a report entitled, “The State of the U.S. Catholic Episcopate and Priesthood.” When I presented his lawyer with evidence to support my claim, I never heard back from him. I doubt that Pope Leo or any bishop will sue me because, in most cases, they know they are guilty, and they fear discovery which could prove quite damaging.
VOL: Why do you think Catholic media and laity do not want to admit that Pope Leo is a homosexual like the cardinals who elected him? Why also has Leo yet to discipline over 160 bishops credibly accused of sexually abusing children and vulnerable adults? You say “We All Knew.”
GOMULKA: Many of us like to project our heterosexuality and our fidelity onto those around us. Even though I studied, lived, and worked very closely with a classmate, three years in Rome and three years in a Pennsylvania parish, I had no idea that he engaged in homosexual relationships with other seminarians and priests, or that he preyed upon the altar boys in our large parish. Hence, I am not at all surprised that many Catholics don’t want to believe that over 80% of bishops and priests are homosexuals and that most of them have violated their promises of celibacy or vows of chastity since they were ordained. Most Catholics discount studies by respected researchers like psychotherapist Richard Sipe, and South African sociologist, Father Victor Kotze, whose research revealed that, at any given moment in time, no more than half of all priests are living celibate lives. When Cardinal José Tomás Sánchez, a former Head of the Dicastery for the Clergy, was asked by a BBC TV reporter what he thought about the studies by Sipe and Kotze, he replied, “I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of those figures.” Most bishops and older priests like myself with extensive supervisory experience also concur with these findings.
Catholic media outlets can stand to lose revenue if more Catholics continue to leave the Church, scandalized by articles I write based on police, reports, court documents, and often incriminating evidence provided by confidential sources. What upsets me about the Catholic media and some Catholics is they criticize me for “harming the faith” by writing about sexual predation in the Church instead of expressing outrage at abusers like Father Marko Rupnik who is accused of raping over twenty nuns and forcing them to drink his semen out of a chalice. Catholic media outlets will ignore my news releases reporting priests like Father Dennis Hanneman who is accused of inserting communion into the vaginas of little girls without reporting how Pope Leo and the Archdiocese of Omaha continue to cover up for perverts like Hanneman. If Pope Leo will not support the sexual abuse victims of priests like Rupnik and Hanneman, why should we be surprised that he has yet to discipline over 160 bishops credibly accused of abusing children and vulnerable adults as documented by BishopAccountability.org?
VOL: You recently wrote this: “Most Catholics cannot cogently explain to their children or their non-Catholic friends why the Catholic Church doctrinally and scripturally does not approve of homosexual behavior. One reason for this is that 80 percent or more of American-born bishops and priests, like Catholic clergy in European countries such as Spain, are documented to be homosexually oriented. That’s a heavy charge. Can you elaborate?
GOMULKA: A 2012 psychological study of “actively ministering or retired priests” in the U.S. revealed that only 26.9% of the priests identified themselves as heterosexuals; 67.3% self-identified as gay/homosexual; and 5.8% reported that they were bisexual. This study, viewed in relation to previous studies, shows how the percentage of gay clergy has risen considerably over the past decades. When I speak with both homosexually and heterosexually priests from around the country who live and work in the 198 dioceses and eparchies, I often asked them what percentage of American-born priests in their diocese do they believe are straight. The response they give about the percentage of American-born straight priests (excluding foreign-born priests from Africa, India, and other countries) varies between 5% and 20%.
Just as homosexual bishops do not want their priests discussing the problem of clerical sexual predation and homosexual misconduct as former Tyler Bishop Joseph Strickland did at the November 2018 meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), so too can we expect homosexual priests to avoid preaching about why the Catholic Church doctrinally and scripturally does not approve of homosexual behavior.
How might a teenage boy who is being groomed by his parish priest react if he were to hear him preach a sermon detailing how awful it is that so manly lawsuits have been filed against homosexual priests and Scoutmasters for grooming and abusing vulnerable boys? It may be similar to how a homosexual young man reported then-Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien for telling a reporter of the National Catholic Register how homosexuals should not be allowed to study for the priesthood only after O’Brien just tried to recruit him at a Courage conference to enter the seminary and become a military chaplain.
Unfortunately, teenage children who can be targets of sexual grooming by both homosexuals and lesbians are not learning at church or in school why major religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, for centuries, viewed homosexual behavior as immoral, harmful, and against the natural law. Although some psychologists and members of the LGBTQ community argue that grooming teenagers during their period of psychosexual development cannot affect their sexual orientation, my experience in working with sexual predators, and the research of other psychologists like Dr. Joseph Nicolosi and researchers like the late Dr. Judith Reisman, would prove otherwise.
VOL: In an effort to justify their homosexual behavior, some members of the LGBTQ community will argue, “I was born that way.” Even Pope Francis was reported to have told a gay man, “God made you like this.” It is said that being gay is not a choice; it is often considered a fundamental part of who someone is. Scientific evidence suggests that sexual orientation is influenced by a combination of biological factors, including genetics and prenatal hormones, as well as environmental influences. While there is no single "gay gene," studies indicate that genetics play a role in determining sexual orientation, but it is not the sole determinant. Do you agree with this? What is your assessment of the situation vis-à-vis the Roman Catholic Church.
GOMULKA: Multiple studies confirm the fact that there is no “gay gene.” Hence, despite what Pope Francis or others may say, God does not make people gay anymore than God sends hurricanes or tornados that cause countless deaths.
It is important to distinguish between orientation and behavior. Unlike race and gender which are non-behavioral characteristics, I might be heterosexual, but that does not mean that my orientation compels me to engage in fornication or adultery. Even if genetics were to play a role in determining sexual orientation, the official teachings of the Roman Catholic Church do not condone homosexual behavior such as sodomy which it finds immoral and a violation of the natural law. If members of the LGBTQ community suffer from certain medical or mental health problems, it is not because they are not affirmed by society in their behavior. Rather, it is their behavior and lifestyle that has resulted in serious illnesses such as AIDS, or even higher suicide rates than heterosexuals.
Most of the homosexuals whom I have encountered were either sexually abused during their period of psychosexual development or reported a family dynamic that impacted their sexual orientation and behavior. When one cleric opined that a lack of a father and a dominating mother in his life contributed more to his homosexual orientation than the abuse he was subjected to by a predator priest, I posited that his lack of a father may have predisposed him to being groomed and abused. Hence, there are cases when both circumstances may occur which can lead one to be homosexual.
The fact that homosexuality is often the result of learned behavior is also supported by studies showing that adult children of gay and lesbian parents are less likely to identify as heterosexual as adults and much more likely to report same-sex attraction. Some studies also show how children of gay or lesbian parents may be more likely to have social and emotional problems than children raised in homes with a mother and father.
The belief that the lack of a father in one’s life can impact a person’s sexual orientation is supported by the fact that Black Americans, who often grow up without a father, are more likely to identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender than any other racial or ethnic group in the nation. The lack of fathers in the home is also a major driver of Black incarceration rates.
Being sexually abused or growing up without a father, which can contribute to men and women becoming gay or lesbian, reminds one of how some children of alcoholic parents can grow up to become alcoholics, and how boys who witness their fathers abusing their mothers can later abuse their wives. Learned behavior, and the fact that there is no “gay gene,” prove that God does not make people gay or lesbian.
In the past, parents worried that their teenage daughter might get pregnant or their teenage son might get a girl pregnant. Today, parents have to worry that teachers or fellow students might cause their children to wrestle with gender dysphoria. The fact that one can change one’s LGBTQ identity, and that conversion therapy aimed at reducing unwanted homosexual or lesbian attraction makes people less likely to consider suicide than those who continue to live the unbridled LGBTQ lifestyle, needs to be taught to every young man and woman.
VOL: An explosive book by French sociologist Frederic Martel who spent four years interviewing more than 1,500 priests, bishops and cardinals says the huge rate of secret homosexuality in the Vatican has created a church ‘built around lies, double lives and hypocrisy.’ Is this true? Please elaborate.
GOMULKA: Having lived and studied in Rome for four years, and having gotten to know some of the clerics that are mentioned in the “explosive book,” In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy, I can concur with most of Martel’s findings. Consequently, I believe it is absolutely true that “the huge rate of secret homosexuality in the Vatican has created a church ‘built around lies, double lives and hypocrisy’.”
During my three years as a seminarian and one year as a priest in residence at the North American College (NAC) while pursuing a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, I was able to befriend some Swiss Guards, similar to the Secret Service at the White House, who were privy to all types of behaviors within Vatican City.
What most people don’t know is how many of the young, mainly 19-22-year-old Swiss Guards were propositioned by homosexual prelates and priests. Religion News Service did report in 2014 that a former Swiss Guard said he received “more than 20 unambiguous sexual requests” from priests, bishops, a member of the powerful Vatican Secretariat of State, and at least one cardinal.
In an interview with the Swiss newspaper, Schweiz am Sonntag, Elmar Mäder, a former Commandant of the Swiss Guard (2002-2008), said, "I cannot refute the claim that there is a network of homosexuals [in the Vatican]…. A working environment in which the great majority of men are unmarried is per se a draw for homosexuals, whether they consciously seek it out or unconsciously follow an urge….the Roman Curia [the Vatican's bureaucracy] is exactly this kind of environment."
Just as bishops are known to transfer priests quietly to other parishes who get reported for sexual predation, so too does the Vatican move bishops to other dioceses who are reported for the same behavior. An American bishop working in the Secretariat of State who was reported for making advances toward Swiss Guards, was not only transferred to an Archdiocese in the United States, but he later was moved to an even larger archdiocese where he was made a cardinal. While Martel was made aware of such accused prelates, his publisher, possibly fearing a lawsuit, did not have their names published.
Unlike my time in Rome (1971-75) during the pontificate of Pope Paul VI who resided in the Papal Palace like his successors, John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI, Pope Francis took up residence in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, a five-story a residence and guest house located adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica which features 106 suites and 22 single rooms. Martel, who was given permission to visit the papal residence where the pope lived in a two-room suite (Room 201), never recounted to my knowledge the multiple homosexual misconduct allegations leveled against Monsignor Battista Ricca during the Pope's 2013 return flight from Rio.
Rumors about notes inviting sex being slipped under doors of visitors to the Domus Sanctae Marthae should come as no surprise, particularly after one reads Chapter Six of Martel’s book, entitled, “Roma Termini.” In this chapter, gay prostitutes who work in the vicinity of the Rome train station share stories of their sexual encounters with bishops and priests whom they say are “willing to pay more than a normal client.” The prostitutes also shared with Martel how they were invited to the Vatican for orgies, similar to a drug-fueled orgy reported in the media in July 2017 at the Vatican apartment belonging to Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, one of Pope Francis' key advisers. Martel wrote, “Several of them talked to me about Friday-night ‘foursomes’ when a chauffeur would turn up in a Mercedes in search of prostitutes and drive them to the Vatican.”
Similar orgies have been reported at rectories and episcopal residences in the U.S. like a December 2004 orgy hosted by then-Springfield Bishop George Lucas. After investigator Stephen Brady reported the orgy to the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo Higuera, Lucas convened a “Special Panel” that covered up the orgy and focused its attention on the sexual perversions of Lucas’ predecessor, Bishop Daniel Ryan. Father Peter Harman, who was reported by Tomás Muñoz of having sodomized Lucas, was rewarded by being made the rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Lucas himself was later promoted and made the Archbishop of Omaha where he was accused of covering up the satanic ritual abuse of Lisa Roers and another girl whose case continues to be covered up by both Pope Leo XIV and Lucas’ successor, Archbishop Michael McGovern.
VOL: Priests in Roman Catholic dioceses make vows of celibacy at their ordination, thereby agreeing to remain unmarried and chaste throughout their lives; that seems to be falling apart. How bad is priestly celibacy in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church?
GOMULKA: Following the November 2018 meting of the USCCB, Lou A. Bordisso, author of Sex, Celibacy, and Priesthood, reported: “Celibacy research studies among Catholic clergy suggest that gay, straight, and bisexual priests are significantly sexually active, and many priests outright reject mandatory celibate chastity. The largest empirical research to date by Richard Sipe studied 1,500 Catholic priests over the period of 25 years.” Bordisso noted how Sipe concluded that at any moment in time, fewer than 50 percent of Catholic priests practice celibacy, and only about 2 percent achieve total celibate chastity throughout their lives.
When celibacy was mandated for diocesan priests in the 12th century as chastity was always mandated for religious priests who live in community, it was often not practiced by priests, bishops, and even popes. For example, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Pope Paul II (1464-1471) died while being sodomized by a page; Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) was known to be a "lover of boys and sodomites;" Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) had illegitimate children with two women; Pope Julius II (1503-1513) had three illegitimate daughters; Pope Leo X (1513-1521) suffered from an anal fistula as the result of too much anal sex; Pope Paul III (1534-49) fathered four illegitimate children; Pope Julius III (1440-1555) shared his bed with 15-year-old boy whom he made a cardinal at the age of 17; and Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585) had a son while he was studying for the priesthood.
The only difference between the clerical misbehavior of the past and today is that Cardinals Joseph Bernardin and Roger Mahoney; Archbishops George Lucas and Gregory Aymond; Bishops Howard Hubbard and Nicholas DiMarzio, and hundreds of other prelates credibly accused of sexual abuse or homosexual misconduct, with the help of a complicit Catholic media, out of court settlements, and whitewashed Vos Estis investigations, have been able to mislead Catholics into believing that most Catholic clergy are straight and celibate when quite the opposite is true.
Another difference between today and past centuries is that, except for Africa and parts of Asia and Eastern Europe, the vast majority of unfaithful clergy are homosexuals. Because almost all the cardinals are homosexuals, except for a few who were not appointed by Pope Francis, the chances of electing a reforming straight pope life St. Pius V in the near future is very slim. One cannot expect a closeted homosexual pope to discipline other homosexual bishops for abusing teenage boys and engaging in consensual homosexual relations with other clerics when the Pope himself is known or thought by the promiscuous prelates to also be a closeted homosexual.
Research undertaken by writer French Frédéric Martel; psychotherapist and researcher, the late Richard Sipe; professor of sociology, D. Paul Sullins; Polish researcher and theologian, Darius Oko; South African sociologist Victor Kotze; and others explains how decades of sex abuse cover-ups and clerical sexual misconduct within the Catholic Church are intrinsically linked to the fact that so many cardinals, bishops and priests are homosexuals. Their research, confirming the high percentage of homosexual clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, supports arguments dating back to the twelfth century that the imposition of mandatory celibacy for diocesan clergy would result in an increase in the percentage of homosexual popes, bishops, priests, and seminarians in the Church.
Homosexual popes and bishops today usually enforce celibacy for straight priests, but not for gay clergy like themselves. I know several cases in which a straight priest was reported for breaking his promise of celibacy on one occasion which resulted in him being laicized or, in some cases, excommunicated. Compare that treatment to several homosexual priests who remain in ministry after being caught using the gay Grindr app like La Crosse Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill and Raleigh Father Clemente Guerrero-Olvera. Sexually active homosexual priests retained in ministry also include Washington Father Adam Park who is accused in court documents of preying on seminarians, and Springfield Father Peter Harman who was reported for engaging in homosexual relations with his bishop. Finally, consider the case of Santa Fe Father Steve Rosera who was returned to ministry and given prestigious positions in the archdiocese after being “married” to a man for ten years. Truly, under current closeted homosexual Church leaders, a double standard exists when it comes to the treatment of straight and gay clergy.
Because homosexual clergy are not being held accountable for violating their promises of celibacy or vows of chastity, one can expect the high clerical infidelity rates reported by Richard Sipe and other researchers to continue. Homosexual bishops and priests, many who were sexually active before and after their ordination, oppose optional celibacy because they don't want straight priests to be able to marry women when they can't "marry" other men as is allowed in denominations such as the Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), United Methodist Church (UMC), Presbyterian Church (USA), and United Church of Christ (UCC). Hence, the chances of reversing the centuries old practice of clerical infidelity in the Roman Catholic Church are very low.
Many Catholics do not want to admit that mandatory celibacy impacts the recruitment and retention of heterosexual clergy in the Catholic Church, and the extremely high infidelity rates of so-called “celibate” clergy. Because the Catholic Church does not approve of same-sex unions, marriage in the Catholic Church is an option for heterosexuals but not for homosexuals. Hence, homosexual clergy, unlike heterosexual clergy, do not sacrifice foregoing marriage and family life if they are ordained Roman Catholic priests. Because of mandatory celibacy, homosexuals can live their entire priesthood in the closet with many Catholics believing that they are heterosexuals who sacrificed getting married to serve Christ and the Church. If they were Protestants and were not married, it would be a lot more difficult for them to hide their homosexuality. It is for this reason that most homosexual clergy support mandatory celibacy, while most heterosexual clergy support optional celibacy.
What most lay Catholics fail to understand is that far more heterosexual diocesan priests would be truly celibate and less prone to break their promises of celibacy if they freely chose celibacy over marriage as is the tradition in the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches.
Catholics also need to know that far fewer homosexuals would want to be diocesan priests if the majority of diocesan clergy were married and not homosexuals as is the case today. Because religious priests who live in community cannot marry for practical reasons, allowing diocesan priests the option of marrying would probably not have a negative impact on the number of homosexuals applying for religious orders like the Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, etc.
VOL: As a result of the numerous controversial articles you published as found on www.gomulka.net, has any bishop, archbishop or cardinal threatened you in any way that might make you fear for your life?
GOMULKA: I know investigative journalists and investigators whose lives were threatened for investigating or reporting bishops, priests, and even seminarians who engaged in homosexual predation or misconduct. Anyone familiar with the Lavender Mafia and the work of the late George Neumayr or Stephen Brady knows that a person can end up dead or have their life threatened for confronting and exposing sexually active closeted homosexual Catholic clergy.
I wrote articles, including, “Four Whistleblower Priests Murdered,” about Monsignor Francis J. O’Connor, Father Joseph Moreno, Father John Minkler, and Father Alfred Kunz, all who were believe to be murdered for speaking out and reporting sexual abuse and homosexual misconduct in their dioceses.
In July 2023, I left California where I lived for 17 years and took up temporary residence in Niagara Falls for 10 months during which time I investigated: 1) The death of Father Moreno whose murder was ruled a suicide; 2) The malicious prosecution of former Buffalo seminarians, Matthew Bojanowski and Stephen Parisi, who protested abuse cover-ups in the diocese and seminary; 3) The unjust dismissal of former Polish seminarian, Wiesław Walawender, whose spiritual director and confessor was Father Moreno, and who reported Auxiliary Bishop Edward Grosz and Father Dennis Riter for sexually abusing Anthony Ravarini in a letter dated May 9, 1992.
Unfortunately, even though many of these cases were reported to local law enforcement and the Vatican, none of the clerics implicated in the murders or abuse were ever prosecuted or incarcerated. Even the local media did not want to address how the Erie County District Attorney, John Flynn, could accept the argument from diocesan officials that the semen that was washed off of Anthony Ravarini’s face did not belong to Father Riter, bur rather was produced by Ravarini who masturbated in the rectory bathroom. The only problem with that argument was that Ravarini was only six and a half years old at the time of the incident and physically incapable of producing semen.
Because of complicit media sources and corrupt law enforcement and court officials as portrayed in the opening scene of the 2015 movie, Spotlight, many guilty predator clergy, and Church officials who cover up their abuse, go unpunished. Fortunately, to date, none of them whom I reported have threatened my life. Having served in the Marine Corps and Navy for over 24 years, I have acquired enough weapons and skills to put up a good fight in the event that a contract is taken out on my life. When you get older and believe that your loved ones can survive without you, you tend not to worry as much about your life as you might if you were young with a wife and small children.
VOL: For years I read the blog of Michael Voris and Church Militant. He was ‘out there’ with his accusations of homosexuality in the Church, but then he fell off the cliff himself. Church Militant was shut down. He ran it into the ground. Your thoughts?
GOMULKA: Michael Voris, with a Bachelor in Sacred Theology (STB), like many former seminarians, was homosexually abused in formation which made it impossible for him later to develop healthy, loving relationships with women. Even thought he self-identifies now as a homosexual, he looks back on his homosexual experience as “abuse” and not “love and friendship” as some groomed seminarians might interpret their introduction to gay sex by a priest or older seminarian. Consequently, unlike groomed seminarians who often go on as priests to groom other young men as they were groomed, Michael would never even think of preying on young men as he was abused. However, as a human being, with the basic psychological need to love and be loved, he, like most adults, can be tempted to act out in a sexual manner.
Homosexual behavior, like drug and alcohol abuse, can be very addictive. Many addicts can arrest their behavior only later to relapse. If Michael is going to avoid being sexually involved with other men, he will have to live one day at a time as a chaste homosexual, hopefully with the support of family and friends, and even support groups life Courage, a Roman Catholic apostolate that helps individuals with same-sex attractions who wish to live in accordance with Catholic teachings on chastity.
Unfortunately, when some priests admit to their closeted homosexual bishops of engaging in homosexual behavior with other men, as Father Steve Rosera did with Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester, they are often not removed from ministry or directed to groups like Courage. Interestingly, Father Rosera’s biography deceptively makes no mention of the fact that he left the priesthood to marry another man with whom he lived for ten years.
When former Charleston Father Michael Cassabon informed Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone that he had married a man, he reported that the bishop congratulated him, but counseled him to keep his relationship secret. It was only after Cassabon later returned to the bishop and requested that he discipline Father Hayden Veverek, the priest he alleges sexually abused him in high school, that the bishop removed Cassabon from ministry. Hence, Cassabon was not dismissed because he married a man, but because he reported clerical sexual abuse. After dismissing Cassabon, Guglielmone himself was later accused of sexually abusing a young parishioner in New York in the 1970s when he was a priest in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
VOL: Thank you for your time, Fr. Gene.
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