Therefore we must hold in sanctified trust this most hallowed personification of God’s creation—this perfect balance of mental energy that exists between any two people when they fall in love—whether it exists between man and woman, or black and white, or Christian and Jew, or believer and atheist, or German and Russian, or royalty and commoner, or virgin and divorcee, or man and man, or woman and woman, or hermaphrodite and eunuch…
The rest of this thing one calls ‘love’ is nothing more than the animal in us. To think differently—it pertains to physical parts of the body—is to say the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony pertains equally to the apes in the wild as it does to human beings.
When Christ said, ‘Let no man put asunder what God has joined together,’ this is what He was speaking of. This union made by God. He was not speaking of ancient rituals performed by mere mortal men dressed up in long robes muttering vain repetitions.
Mother Church and society use the word ‘marriage’ to describe two entirely different things.
In canon law, marriage is nothing more than permission from certain kinds of men to certain kinds of people to have sex without committing sin—a man-made union—a union of bodies…
In society, marriage is a union of any two people who hold each other as the most precious constituent of human life—a God-made union—a union of minds…
Mother Church has made of sex the greatest of sins, whereas, in itself, it is nothing more than human nature and not a sin at all. “31
At the time, the motion picture Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner had not yet previewed and most of the unions he spoke of were condemned by preachers as being against God’s will.
To Luciani, the state was in violation of Christ’s will. In denying sanctity of marriage to any two people who were in love, the state was “putting asunder what God has joined together.”32
The sacred duty of society
In the ensuing months, civil rights advocates in the United States, faced by polls overwhelmingly against integration, continued their struggle state-by-state to make interracial marriage legal.
As keynote speaker at the Christian Democratic Party Convention in Milan 1963, Luciani criticized the American process, “The most sacred duty of society is to protect certain inalienable rights for all of its citizens and it should not be an option of any of its tributaries or the majority to abuse those rights.
“The right to fall in love with whomever God deems one fall in love with is one of these rights…Democracy, which finds its strength in rule by the people, can only find its sacred duty to society, in preserving the basic human rights of its loneliest individual.”33
In 1967, Loving vs. Virginia, an interracial case, reached the United States Supreme Court. The Lovings had been convicted of interracial marriage and sentenced to a year in the state prison for having married. Chief Justice Earl Warren, read the court’s decision, “The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. Marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man, fundamental to ones existence and survival…Under the Constitution of the United States, the freedom to marry…resides with the individual and cannot be infringed upon by the state, or by the majority.”34
On the fortieth anniversary of the court’s ruling, June 12, 2007, Mildred Loving, a plaintiff in the case, “Surrounded as I am with wonderful children, not a day goes by I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have the freedom to marry that person who is most precious to me, even if others thought it to be the wrong kind of person for me to marry.
Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs on others; especially if it denies people civil rights.
I am proud that Richard’s and my name are on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, straight or gay, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving and loving is all about.”35
The Catholic marriage ceremony ending ‘until death do us part” defines the Sacrament of Matrimony as being between two mortal animals which is consistent with the description of heaven in the Old Testament, “The Lord came to me saying, Thou shalt not take thee a wife into this place, neither shalt thou bring sons or daughters…”36 And, in the New Testament, ‘In this place one shall be as the bride of Christ…all of your love will be for Christ alone…’37
Clergy Pedophilia
Another of the seminarian’s works which drew low marks, Il Pedophilia del Clero, 38 addressed the question as to why the rate of pedophilia among priests seemed to be much higher than that of the general population and why it seemed to be primarily homosexual whereas in the general population it was primarily heterosexual.
Homosexuals in the priesthood
He recalled his time at Feltre, “All sex outside of marriage is mortal sin. A heterosexual has the option of marriage and can look forward to a life of sex free of sin. For him, celibacy is a great sacrifice. But, a homosexual can never marry and therefore he is condemned to a life of celibacy anyway. In choosing the celibate life of a priest, a homosexual isn’t giving up anything. This yields a relatively high percentage of homosexuals in the priesthood…”
Transsexuals in the priesthood
He addressed the inconsistency, priests versus nuns and monks, “I am puzzled why there is relatively low incidence of homosexual pedophilia among nuns and monks who outnumber priests four to one. Certainly, all three professions would attract the same mix of people as they offer one a life of celibacy, one dedicated to God. I wonder what could be the difference between a priest and a monk or a nun that results in a high rate of pedophilia among priests.”38
He looked at those who had gone before him. One researcher determined the vestments were attractive to the transsexuals.
A monk’s brown robe would not suffice, as everyone would be wearing the same ‘dress.’ Conversely, reverse transsexuals—men born into women’s bodies—would have no interest in the convent, as, at the time, it required they spend their lives in a black dress. These ‘men’ wanted to wear pants, not dresses.
The researcher concluded the vestments themselves resulted in a significant transsexual population among priests and practically no transsexual population among monks and nuns. Yet, Albino already knew this as many of his classmates exhibited feminine traits—the priesthood allowed them to dress up in beautiful gowns and live out their lives as objects of awe otherwise reserved for the fair sex.
Also, like a homosexual, a transsexual contemplating celibacy didn’t have to give up anything in celibacy; unable to marry, he or she was otherwise condemned to a life of sin.
Benedict XVI
This is demonstrated by Benedict today. At the age of five, he was among boys who bestowed flowers at the feet of the Archbishop of Munich. He fell in love with the cardinal’s elaborate gown and announced that evening he was going to be a cardinal.39
For the most part, Benedict has set aside the white smock of his predecessors for the more lavish dress of the pre-Paul VI era—magnificent robes of regal attire and added much of his own. Franco Zeffirelli, the film director, calls Benedict’s wear ‘too sumptuous for modern times.’ Though there is no reliable foundation for it, Queen Elizabeth is said to have said of his wardrobe, ‘too effeminate for my everyday tastes and far too elegant and overdone for royal affairs.’
Here, Benedict steps out for the evening in his velvet cape lined in white ermine in a gown layered in white satin and fine lace over beige chiffon. The Pope is particularly fond of lace and has a meticulous fetish for gold in that it promotes his majestic image. Famous for his collection of Prada shoes, here he wears a pair of Giorgio Brutini slippers. His wardrobe—the most lavish of any monarch—boasts hundreds of pairs of slippers from leading fashion houses.39
From 1981 to 2005, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger served as Prefect of the Doctrine
of the Congregation of the Faith, dictator of morality in the Catholic world.
In 2003, he enacted the doctrine transsexual surgery cannot alter gender and barred those who undergo sex-change surgery from marriage, ordination and religious life.40
Christ never damned homosexuals, transsexuals or transvestites. Yet, He did, many times, damn the Hypocrite.
Albino Luciani’s conclusion makes sense today.
Although the transgender41 population is relatively small, it is relatively large compared to the priest population. There are upwards of ten million transgenders in the United States and fifty thousand diocesan priests. It is reasonable to conclude that attracted by the vestments alone there is a large percentage of transgenders among priests, the reason why sacristies always boast a full length mirror.
Other than having been caught up in the scandal of the Maltese altar boys in 1993, there is no record Benedict was ever involved in pedophilia.42
Heterosexuals in the priesthood
One might wonder why a straight male who had the option of marriage and a life of sex free of sin would enter the priesthood.
The answer is obvious. They think something wrong with sex.
He sums up his case
In his study, Il Pedophilia del Clero,38 he concluded that the priesthood was made up of three groups:
homosexuals
transsexuals
heterosexuals who thought something wrong with sex
Actually, all Catholic clergy think there is something wrong with sex. After all, if they thought it to be good—a gift from God—it would be wrong to refuse the natural order of God’s creation.
Luciani’s conclusions are consistent with priest pedophilia cases tried in world courts. According to the best records available, about forty percent of predators have been determined to be transsexuals and another forty percent have been determined to be homosexuals. This leaves the rest who think there is something wrong with sex.
In their case, they are right.
The youth Luciani often wrote in humor. Il Pedophilia del Clero was no exception. Frustrated why priests were required to take a vow of celibacy and not one of poverty, he ended his paper, “Christ said, ‘If thou wilt be perfect, sell all thou hast and give to the poor’” He did not say, ‘If thou wilt be perfect, keep it in your pants!’”38
In the spring of 1978, a few months before his election, he was said to have criticized an American bishop for paying off the alleged victim of a pedophile priest. “It would be better that we try our accused fellow servants in a court of law so they can be cleared of any wrong doing and if found guilty, they should pay their debt to society. It is not Mother Church’s business to pay their debt in cash, particularly to pay it with money intended for the poor. Besides, if we take no action to get at the truth, we may very well be endangering countless children in the future.”43
The Prince Luciani
He had been the first bishop installed by John XXIII.
At the conclusion of the ceremony his sister who headed up the congratulatory reception line approached him and motioned to bow to kiss his newly acquired bishop’s ring.
So horrified was he that this woman who had been such great support to him would bow to him, rather than extending his hand, he grasped her in his arms and held her for a time. The congregation was moved to tears. A group of Vatican cardinals, appalled at what they had witnessed stood off to one side, frozen in hostile stares.
On releasing her, this newest prince of the Church—realizing he had broken Church protocol—turned toward the Pope.
Rather than apologizing for his action, he told John, “A prince must never forget his sister is the princess!”44
Archbishop by Popular Demand
In September 1969, the Archbishop of Venice died. Thinking a Vatican cardinal would be chosen to fill the post, thousands of protestors marched through the streets of Venice demanding the bishop of the remote mountain diocese of Vittorio Veneto be named.
When Luciani was elevated to the post, the press billed it as ‘the vote of the people.’ But, as we shall see in what is yet to come, Paul VI had already chosen Albino Luciani for the job. As a matter-of-fact he had already chosen him to one day fill his own job.
Under Arrest
It might interest the reader to know during his tenure as Patriarch of Venice Albino Luciani lived as a common man rather than as the crown prince of the Church he was.
He would often go incognito through villages dressed in clothes befitting a bum. He would learn firsthand the needs of his people.
This together with that he came across as a regular guy rather than a man of great stature occasionally got him into trouble.
In one case he was stopped by police in an impoverished section of a town and asked for identification. When he failed to produce his papers and claimed to be the Patriarch of Venice they didn’t believe him and placed him under arrest.45
Shoes of the Fisherman
On another occasion, he escaped to the Lido for a few days.
His shorts were so fringed and worn and his shoes so tattered and torn a tourist handed him a lire note. It was time for a change.
Peering in a store window, he evaluated a pair of sandals.
The workmanship was of such fine quality as if made for a god. He went in the shop and tried them on. A perfect fit but the price too high. He would make do with the old ones a few more years.
Going out of the shop he took a bench along the edge of the lagoon. A youth in ragged clothes passed. He had no shoes.
Getting up, he beckoned the boy to follow him into the shop, intending to buy the sandals and give the boy his old shoes.
When he put them on, the youngster’s eyes beamed in awe at the perfection of the sandals.
Together they went out of the shop, the boy in the sandals and he in his old shoes, still tattered and torn.
He bid the youth goodbye.
Returning to his bench, a tourist tucked a lire note into his hand.46
“A bit of red would help.”
On still another occasion, he arrived at a village church and was told the church had closed for the day.
Returning to his car he told his aide to drive on. Ignoring his instruction, the young priest disappeared into the church.
A few minutes later, the church’s rector came out to the car. Apologizing, he told the cardinal, “Your eminence, perhaps, a tiny touch of red would help.”47
The Janitor of the Patriarch’s Palace
On another occasion he entered into a conversation with a group of students in a pub and invited them to come to see him at home on the morrow, “I live next to the Basilica di San Marco.”
“You mean the Patriarch’s Palace?” “Yes,” he nodded.
“For whom should we ask?” they queried.
“Just ask for Piccolo,” he smiled.
The next day they arrived at the palace and asked for Piccolo. They were taken to an elevator flanked by Swiss Guards. Exiting the elevator they were led to an office flanked by more Swiss Guards.
They were astonished to find Piccolo sitting by the window chatting with Pope Paul who happened to be visiting him that day.48
The Hypocrite
Luciani despised wearing vestments. Besides being effeminate, he thought there to be something hypocritical about them.
One day, in shorts and sandals, in the plaza fronting his Venice palace, he was asked by a retarded boy to pose with him for a photo.
He motioned to kneel down beside the boy. The boy stopped him, “Could you put on your beautiful clothes?”
Luciani disappeared into the palace. Shortly, he returned wearing his cardinal’s robe, miter and golden staff.
“There are times,” he told the boy’s father, “we must shed our humility and put on our hypocrisy. This is one of them.”49
Now watch as…
“One Beautiful Life… explodes into a trail of death and destruction in the Roman Catholic Church.”
How
ard Jason Smith, Boston Globe
1 Parlamento Italiano ABA35868 16 Jan 59 ‘La Single Condizione di Genitore Albino Luciani’
2 direct testimony Luciani to the author. This story is reprinted from Let’s All Get Behind the Pope…
3 Corriere delle Alpi 7 Jun 50
4 Corriere delle Alpi 15 Jul 50
5 L’Epresso 19 Jul 50
6 Princeton Packet 2 Apr 49
7 Direct testimony author
8 Messaggero Mestre 17 Mar 73
9 Treviso Notizie 1 Jun 68
10 Parlamento Italiano ABA35868 16 Jan 59 ‘La Single Condizione di Genitore Albino Luciani’
11 Treviso Notizie 12 Jan 59
12 Testimony of Jack Champney, author’s file
13 Gregorian University Rome, ‘Strategia di Una Guerra Sconosciuto, Don Albino Luciani 1941’ See author’s note on page 80. Exhibit: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
14 Veneto Nostro 14 Apr 63 22 Aug 66 27 Dec 67
15 Augusta Chronicle 12 Apr 67
16 Statistical Abstracts of the United States 1960-1979
17 New York Times 12 May 78
18 Veneto Nostro 23 May 78
19 N Y Times 29 Jun 78 See ‘Reincarnated Courage’ in author’s book Let’s All Get Behind the Pope
20 Washington Post 16 Dec 1973
21 Messaggero Mestre 17 Dec 73
22 Catholic Encyclopedia Second Edition
23 Il Gazzattino Venezia 23 Jul 76
24 L’Osservatore Romano 29 Mar 78 Luciani paraphrased Luis Cernuda’s poem, ‘The Family’ adding the phrase “…What is more, we will have to answer to the God who made them!”
25 Messaggero Mestre 12 Apr 70
26 Canon of Trent 1565 .That ‘all sex outside marriage is mortal sin’ is canon Law. According to the Bible, ‘all sex regardless of marriage is sinful.’ There is one verse in the Bible which infers sex within marriage to be without sin. Corinthians 7 ‘… I say therefore to the unmarried and widows. It is good for them if they abide. But, if they cannot contain, let them marry’ for it is better to marry than to burn.’ Yet, this verse is ambiguous in that it does not make clear burn in hell vs. burn with passion. It does not appear in the oldest surviving New Testament, 4th century Sinaiticus Codex held by the British Library. It was added by Catholic theologians in the middle ages to bring the Bible in line with canon law, ‘all sex outside marriage is Mortal Sin,’ which it remains today.
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