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Vatican buys Europe's biggest gay bathhouse and sauna

Scandal hits the Holy See as the conclave closes its doors

IrishCentral Staff Writers,

Published Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 7:35 AM

Updated Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 4:04 PM

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The Vatican has purchased a $31 million share of the Rome apartment block that houses Europe’s biggest gay sauna.

Photo by Google Images

One day ahead of the papal conclave in Rome, The Independent has revealed that the scandal hit Holy See has purchased a $31 million share of the Rome apartment block that houses Europe’s biggest gay sauna.

It's a move that has left a sea of red faces to match the red capes of the horrified cardinals. But Cardinal Ivan Dias, the head of the Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples, who is due to participate in today's election at the Sistine Chapel, may be blushing more than most.

According to the Independent, the 76-year-old 'prince of the church' enjoys a 12-room apartment on the first-floor of his magnificent palazzo, located at 2 Via Carducci, just yards from the ground floor entrance to the gay bath house and sauna.

There are 18 other Vatican apartments in the block, many of which house priests, the Independent reports.

Here's the advertising pitch from the gay sauna's website: 'Behind this door an exciting and comfortable world is waiting for you. A place created by males and for males only. A place where you will forget about stress, uncertainties, fears and enjoy the priceless pleasure of being yourself!

'Here you will find: king turkish bath, finnish sauna, giant whirlpool, waterfall whirlpool, relaxation rooms with videos, gym with Tecnogym equipments, cinema, aesthetics - solarium - massage, parties - shows - surprises, music therapy and aromatherapy, chromotherapy and the EMC Cafe' open non-stop!'

One ray of light amid the rolling PR nightmare still plaguing the church is this: thanks to generous tax breaks the church received from the last Berlusconi government, it will have avoided hefty payments to the Italian state.

Meanwhile Italian gay websites have been laughing uproariously over the news. On the Gay.it site one wag quipped: 'Oops, I took the wrong door, I thought it was the chapel.'

See more: Irish Catholic Church , Irish Catholic Priest , Vatican

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ADMIN | Apr 10, 2013, 06:16 PM EDT

O K, ALL ye "holy Joe's" GOOGLE " Limerick Gay Sauna Priest " NOW - Shut the F*** UP

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Varoon2542 | Mar 14, 2013, 01:08 PM EDT

@merefalow: I'm pretty sure all the homosexuals serving in the army or police force or firefighting teams are, how did your call them? "mincing parodies of men" instead of being "real men" like cowards like you... You disgust me

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merefalow | Mar 14, 2013, 09:06 AM EDT

sick,there is something so wrong,disturbing and fundamentally wrong with the practise of male homosexuality,i dont care that the modern world has turned 2,000 years of considering this practise wrong and immoral,into something they advocate as an acceptable alternative life style,it sucks,no pun intended.men should be men,not mincing parodies of one.

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olovely | Mar 13, 2013, 06:07 PM EDT

I'm sure the cardinals will be relaxing in all the "king turkish bath, finnish sauna, giant whirlpool, waterfall whirlpool, and relaxation rooms with videos" right about now.

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McNamara31 | Mar 13, 2013, 09:47 AM EDT

The Commentator "They even flaunt their ability to act with impunity and could care less about the effect it is having on the faithful parishioners who have faith and want to believe. How much longer can the parishioners make excuses and lie to their children about how good the church is. THE CHURCH MUST CHANGE AND ADHERE TO CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES IN THOUGHT AND ACTIONS." I totally feel what you have stated. I have the hardest time discussing these actions with my teenage children and I'm at the point if this next Pope fails to correct these travesties I will look into one of the orthodox christian churches who stayed closer in doctrine to the original Catholic Church and be done with them.

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McNamara31 | Mar 13, 2013, 09:17 AM EDT

I have tried to post (3x's) the comments of Father Amorth about the present day Vatican. Why are you not posting them?

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esatdigiwank | Mar 13, 2013, 05:17 AM EDT

Yes, just 6 comments since most Irish ppl tend to blinker themselves with Irish print media. Irish INdependent and the INdependent of London have different owners! Dublin has suppressed this story in all Irish owned newspapers. Plenty of substance in this story - its in European newspapers. To be anti-catholic is Not to be anti-Irish!

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Seanmor | Mar 12, 2013, 11:15 PM EDT

It appears as though many priests and prelates may find practical use for the gay bathhouse, since a large percentage of the R.C. clergy are said to be homosexuals.

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warrenpoint00 | Mar 12, 2013, 09:40 PM EDT

Irish Independent, LOL, now who in their right mind would believe anything printed by this british rag,and judging by the ONLY six comments posted ,it would seem to me that their story has not got much substance,as usual.WHEN has it been, introduced into a social atmosphere that Turkish baths,saunas, whirlpools, and aromatherapy are part and parcel of a gay society, I would think that this is an everyday occurrence in the conservative and labour relaxation arenas in England, this hardly makes those responsible people paedophiles. Sad anti Irish news paper.

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The Commentator | Mar 12, 2013, 06:04 PM EDT

It's a retirement home for the pedophile priests. The other possibility is that recently a number of the Vatican employees have been outed as being involved in homosexual activities and money laundering and they manipulated the purchase of the bathhouse and sauna as a private retreat for the Catholic Church hierarchy with no fear of outside interference. They probably own shares in companies that manufacture birth control pills, condoms and weapons. As olovely mentions, hypocrisy is rampant in the Roman Catholic Church.

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olovely | Mar 12, 2013, 03:51 PM EDT

It's not the act, it's the hypocrisy that rankles.

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Fitzyboy | Mar 12, 2013, 02:11 PM EDT

As outrageous as this story is, being "gay" is not a crime, unlike being a pedophile. So this would be a move in the right direction as of late. The inmates are running the asylum in Rome it seems.

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mreinhar2001 | Mar 12, 2013, 02:07 PM EDT

It will be interesting to hear what they do with the bath house, if the news ever tells us....

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The Commentator | Mar 12, 2013, 10:27 AM EDT

I wonder which one of the pedophiles recommended this purchase. The tax free status that the church enjoys is ridiculous. It is one thing for the clergy to be tax free so they can survive on a meagre stipend and the church to also be tax free to do God's work in helping the poor, but for the church hierarchy to live a life of luxury and the church to amass great wealth for the benefit of the church elite is just plain wrong. It is time for all governments to tax everyone and everything and treat each entity with fairness and equality. The fact that the Roman Catholic Church is investing in questionable assets, has a history with the mafia in money laundering, is currently dealing in cash at the Vatican because of their "banking practices" is certainly cause for a thorough forensic examination of all financial dealing of the church for the past 20 years. Their meddling with politial civil issues is also another reason for them to be taxed. The new Pope better be able to take the reins and bring the runaway wagon to a stop. The church acts like a mafia don who has every judge, lawyer and cop on the take and has nothing to fear. They even flaunt their ability to act with impunity and could care less about the effect it is having on the faithful parishioners who have faith and want to believe. How much longer can the parishioners make excuses and lie to their children about how good the church is. THE CHURCH MUST CHANGE AND ADHERE TO CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES IN THOUGHT AND ACTIONS.

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BoysofBantry | Mar 12, 2013, 09:44 AM EDT

A 76 year old cardinal (Ivan Dias) living in a 12 room apartment, apparently alone, in the heart of Rome at church expense? These elitist pigs suck up the funds of church while living a life style that few can imagine, and now select a new pope. It is an outfit filled with hypocrisy, exploitation of the ignorant poor seeking salvation, endless narcissism and greed.

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