Catholic Archbishop goes down in Gay Sex video scandal.

international | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Wednesday August 24, 2005 18:01 by stir it up.

Argentina found itself one the South American states whose government was criticised by the Vatican by the new Benedict XVI prelature earlier this year for supporting a condom campaign to fight aids.

Some Catholics now believe the sex scandal which broke this week is politically motivated.

Archbishop Maccarone's resignation was accepted last friday for "health or other serious reasons" by the Vatican, after a video surfaced showing him in an act of intimacy with a 23 year old man, who he had promised to assist in his search for work.

The church alledge that leftist elements were behind the scandal noting that the felatio video is now no sale over the internet.

Alfredo Serrano has spoken to the media about his relations with the bishop and confirmed that no money changed hands, but that he has sold the video (for 50,000$), which he made to avenge himself after he became convinced that he wasn't going to get a job. He describes himself as a good catholic and affirms that the archbishop reassured him that he was very good catholic.

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/08/24/um/m-1039457.htm
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/cultura/nota.asp?nota_id=732693

The argentine state are worried that a political motive be seen in the incident, and have been quick to distance their condoms for AIDS campaign from the video, in which a condom was not used.

http://www3.terra.com.ar/canales/informaciongeneral/121/121469.html
http://www.totalnews.com.ar/detalle_noticia.asp?cod_noticia=4320

reports in english
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/22/argentina.bishop.ap/
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/cgi-bin/news/newsbrief.plx?id=2249474402&fa=1
http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=5852

"In 2002, Argentine courts opened an investigation of a leading priest on charges of sexual abuse of minors after a book linked him with several cases. Archbishop Edgardo Gabriel Storni denied the charges, but the investigation continues.

A year later, Father Julio Cesar Grassi, one of the most popular priests thanks to his television appearances, was also implicated in a sexual misconduct case involving youngsters. That case is also still being investigated.

The Vatican, in a brief statement on Friday, had said it had accepted Maccarone`s resignation, but made no mention of the cause."

This ineed is not the first sex scandal to rock the church, nor will it be the last,.

A Texas man opened suit against a Catholic priest in St. Louis Circuit Court Tuesday, claiming the priest sexually abused him 35 years ago.
The man is now in his 50s and filed the civil suit as "John Doe." He claims that the Rev. James Pavlik counseled him after he "got in some trouble with the law" and invited him to spend the night in the rectory. Pavlik then fondled the teen's genitals, according to the suit.

At the time of the alleged abuse, Pavlik was a pastor at St. John Nepomuk Church, 1625 South 11th Street in St. Louis, according to Tony Huenneke, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

The suit also names the archdiocese and Archbishop Raymond Burke, (an irish born prelate) saying archdiocesan officials knew about Pavlik's history of abusing minors and "acted with depraved hearts" by failing to prevent his future access to others.