In an interview with Italy’s La7 television recently, a Trento, Italy, Catholic priest, Don Gino Flaim, made statements that could only be described as disgusting. While being interviewed, the Catholic priest was asked about homosexuality in the church. What was said afterward left one woman with her mouth literally wide open. The exchange went like this:
Journalist: “Is there a serious problem of homosexuality in the church?”
Don Gino Flaim: “Well… I don’t know… I could accept pedophilia, but I am not sure about homosexuality.”
Journalist: “What do you mean by: I could accept pedophilia?”
Don Gino Flaim: “I’ve done a lot of school in the past, I know kids, unfortunately some kids are looking for care and love; because they haven’t got any at home, and maybe they find for themselves a priest that could be tempted.”
Journalist: “So you actually mean that most of the times is because of the kid’s fault?”
Don Gino Flaim: “Yes, most of the time.”
Journalist: “So the accusations for pedophilia are unjustified?”
Don Gino Flaim: “Accusations!? Those are sins, like all other sins [they] have to be accepted.”
Journalist: “What about homosexuality? You were telling me previously.”
Don Gino Flaim: “I haven’t got direct connections, I wouldn’t know. That they are around I am not surprised, because the church is a community of sinners, [it] is not surprising that Jesus Christ died of sins, even here I cannot understand the reasons, as you get sick.”
Journalist: “Homosexuality is a sickness?”
Don Gino Flaim: “Without any doubts, who lives these lives, pedophilia or homosexuality, I think that inside… inside they are experiencing some sort of suffering and they feel different… of… of… from others, because this is just human.”
There is so much wrong with what this man said, I don’t know where to begin. How about the fact that he believes that a Catholic priest taking advantage of a child is the child’s fault “most of the time.”
Also, while he says pedophilia and homosexuality are both “sins,” he “could accept pedophilia” but not homosexuality, and he says all of this as he smiles with a smug look on his face. I could think of a few ways to get that look off of his face. What’s really scary is wondering: Is this the normal thinking of the average Catholic priest?
Now, all of this comes just a few weeks after the pope’s first visit to the U.S.. While Don Gino Flaim has been suspended from his parish in Trento, I wonder what the pope will do about this. The church’s track record isn’t exactly the best in bringing certain pedophiles to justice.
Lastly, as The Daily Banter writes:
“Hopefully the authorities will be looking very closely at whether he has any contact with children on the off chance that he ‘gives up’ if one is unable to control their thirst for decrepit old men in his presence.”
Featured image by La7 video screen capture.
