Damned Pervert Priests - and other assorted Holy Scumbags

[Fake Messiah]

And yet, at the same time, he is telling people not to masturbate and not to have premarital sex.

California Catholic bishop, 69, is regular visitor to brothel called The Hong Kong Gentlemen's Club

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, 69, has been accused of repeatedly traveling across the border from San Diego into Tijuana to visit the Hong Kong Gentlemen's Club.

Shaleta was the leader of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle of San Diego at the time of his alleged visits.

He made more than a dozen late-night trips to the brothel in a single month.

Shaleta's salacious excursions reportedly slowed down to a 'couple times a week' after he was questioned about them.

The report - ordered by the Vatican - said the bishop was spotted parking his car in a lot 'specifically reserved for people going to Hong Kong Gentlemen's Club.'

From there, he boarded a shuttle 'exclusive to visitors' of the brothel.

The club has been described by human rights advocates as a brothel where women and girls have allegedly been trafficked and forced to work.

Shaleta is also under fire over his alleged relationship with an unidentified woman who served as his parish secretary when he was a pastor in Michigan.

The bishop shares a joint bank account with the unidentified woman who served as his parish secretary when he was a pastor in Michigan. It allegedly held more than $40,000 in 2025 and received regular deposits from him.

When Shaleta became eparch for Chaldean Catholics in Canada in 2015, the woman allegedly made 'frequent trips' to Toronto and stayed 'either at a nearby hotel or at his house.'

Once Shaleta was appointed to lead the eparchy in San Diego in 2017, the woman 'immediately' moved there.

The report claimed Shaleta had 'unfettered access' to her home and that he spent 'a great deal of time' with her children.

Investigators alleged he took at least $427,345 from parish accounts, issuing so-called reimbursement checks that he signed himself.

The total amount of money allegedly embezzled by Shaleta could reach $1 million.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Fraud Unit is actively investigating Shaleta for financial mishandling, according to NBC7.

Shaleta denied the allegations on Sunday during the closing moments of the church service.

'I have never in my priestly life or episcopal life abused any of the Church money,' he said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...aleta.html

But how can the Fraud Unit investigate an organization and/or a person that doesn't pay taxes?

[Fake Messiah]

Child sex abuse allegations covered up by Church in Wales for decades, report reveals

Allegations a priest sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy were covered up by the Church in Wales over three decades allowing Anthony Pierce to rise through the ranks to become a bishop, a report has found.

Four Archbishops of Wales including Dr Rowan Williams were referred to in the report which lists a "catalogue of failures" by the Church.

The alleged victim has since died. His mother told BBC Wales "nobody cared, nobody was listening" and it was "too little too late for him".

Pierce, who had served as Bishop of Swansea and Brecon for nine years from 1999, was jailed last year for historical sexual abuse of a different boy.

Between 1986 and 2010, concerns over Pierce were raised on four occasions with some of the most senior members of the church, the report says.

But nothing was done in a "don't ask, don't tell" culture, with it being felt it was "safe to hush it up", the review led by barrister Gabrielle Higgins found.

Findings included the alleged sexual assault of the 15-year-old altar server being seen as "not paedophilia" because it involved a boy, not a girl.

The alarm was first raised over Pierce's behaviour by male students at Swansea University in 1986 where Pierce, now 85, was a chaplain.

This was uncovered by a BBC Wales investigation into historic abuse in the Church, which heard from victims and whistleblowers who said abuse was ignored.

The review said it was reported to the then Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, Benjamin Vaughan, but nothing was done.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj98z1np8m0o

[zebo-the-fat]

Child sex abuse allegations covered up by Church in Wales for decades, report reveals

Allegations a priest sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy were covered up by the Church in Wales over three decades allowing Anthony Pierce to rise through the ranks to become a bishop, a report has found.

Four Archbishops of Wales including Dr Rowan Williams were referred to in the report which lists a "catalogue of failures" by the Church.

The alleged victim has since died. His mother told BBC Wales "nobody cared, nobody was listening" and it was "too little too late for him".

Pierce, who had served as Bishop of Swansea and Brecon for nine years from 1999, was jailed last year for historical sexual abuse of a different boy.

Between 1986 and 2010, concerns over Pierce were raised on four occasions with some of the most senior members of the church, the report says.

But nothing was done in a "don't ask, don't tell" culture, with it being felt it was "safe to hush it up", the review led by barrister Gabrielle Higgins found.

Findings included the alleged sexual assault of the 15-year-old altar server being seen as "not paedophilia" because it involved a boy, not a girl.

The alarm was first raised over Pierce's behaviour by male students at Swansea University in 1986 where Pierce, now 85, was a chaplain.

This was uncovered by a BBC Wales investigation into historic abuse in the Church, which heard from victims and whistleblowers who said abuse was ignored.

The review said it was reported to the then Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, Benjamin Vaughan, but nothing was done.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj98z1np8m0o

"Findings included the alleged sexual assault of the 15-year-old altar server being seen as "not paedophilia" because it involved a boy, not a girl."  What difference does the sex of the victim make?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

And yet, at the same time, he is telling people not to masturbate and not to have premarital sex.

California Catholic bishop, 69, is regular visitor to brothel called The Hong Kong Gentlemen's Club

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, 69, has been accused of repeatedly traveling across the border from San Diego into Tijuana to visit the Hong Kong Gentlemen's Club.

Shaleta was the leader of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle of San Diego at the time of his alleged visits.

He made more than a dozen late-night trips to the brothel in a single month.

Shaleta's salacious excursions reportedly slowed down to a 'couple times a week' after he was questioned about them.

The report - ordered by the Vatican - said the bishop was spotted parking his car in a lot 'specifically reserved for people going to Hong Kong Gentlemen's Club.'

From there, he boarded a shuttle 'exclusive to visitors' of the brothel.

The club has been described by human rights advocates as a brothel where women and girls have allegedly been trafficked and forced to work.

Shaleta is also under fire over his alleged relationship with an unidentified woman who served as his parish secretary when he was a pastor in Michigan.

The bishop shares a joint bank account with the unidentified woman who served as his parish secretary when he was a pastor in Michigan. It allegedly held more than $40,000 in 2025 and received regular deposits from him.

When Shaleta became eparch for Chaldean Catholics in Canada in 2015, the woman allegedly made 'frequent trips' to Toronto and stayed 'either at a nearby hotel or at his house.'

Once Shaleta was appointed to lead the eparchy in San Diego in 2017, the woman 'immediately' moved there.

The report claimed Shaleta had 'unfettered access' to her home and that he spent 'a great deal of time' with her children.

Investigators alleged he took at least $427,345 from parish accounts, issuing so-called reimbursement checks that he signed himself.

The total amount of money allegedly embezzled by Shaleta could reach $1 million.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Fraud Unit is actively investigating Shaleta for financial mishandling, according to NBC7.

Shaleta denied the allegations on Sunday during the closing moments of the church service.

'I have never in my priestly life or episcopal life abused any of the Church money,' he said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...aleta.html

But how can the Fraud Unit investigate an organization and/or a person that doesn't pay taxes?

Actually, clergy do pay taxes. Churches are exempt from property tax, but clergy pay income tax.

But that’s neither here nor there. He was obviously visiting the brothel to save the souls of those poor, fallen women.

Boru

[Fake Messiah]

What? Sexual oppression in the Catholic Church?! Don't say.

I quit the priesthood because it’s too hard to stay celibate

With his dark hair, dimpled chin and broad shoulders, Alberto Ravagnani, 32, looks like he should be heading to a Hollywood casting call.

But for the past eight years, Ravagnani has been accustomed to playing a far different role: a man of the cloth, delivering sermons and spreading the good word to Milan’s God-fearing youth.

That is, until now. Earlier this month, he tossed away his dog collar and officially left the priesthood over its celibacy rules.

“I could have decided to live in a grey area and lead a double life, as perhaps other priests do,” says a now-upbeat Ravagnani. But it was a tough decision – and one that caused an immediate sensation inside the Catholic Church. In response, Milan’s vicar general, Monsignor Franco Agnesi, issued a statement expressing his regret and noted “the suffering that such a decision caused for so many people”.

“But at a certain point,” says Ravagnani, “I realised that it wasn’t right. I don’t agree with celibacy or the doctrine that supports it.”

“I was happy to be a priest but I struggled with my sexuality for many years,” he says. “It was inherently unhealthy for sexuality to be completely eliminated.”

With 300,000 followers on social media, he’s always been a fun-loving priest with a light-hearted side. He has filled his Instagram and YouTube accounts with zany updates on his personal journey.

Ravagnani, who is heterosexual, was born to non-practising Catholics in the northern Italian city of Monza in 1993. His parents – his dad was a warehouse worker, his mum a cook – are still together after 30 years of marriage, but he says he never witnessed affection in his family and had a poor self-image as a teenager.

In his book, he describes himself as a good student but says he felt lonely and unloved by his parents as a teenager. He recalls how he condemned “dissolute” schoolmates, while spending his afternoons masturbating to pornographic videos in what he described as an addiction. Painfully shy, he says he had a crush on a female companion but never pursued it.

“When I was young, I thought I was unworthy of being loved,” he says, with a touch of sadness. “When I entered the seminary at the age of 19, it was a relief. I had never had any sexual relationships. I didn’t have to think about women any more. God was the only one who would love me.

“Maybe if I had entered after a relationship, after a degree, after a job, things would have gone differently. I don’t know.”

Masturbation was his only sexual outlet after he entered the seminary – “My brain was switched off. I allowed myself to live my sexuality without anybody knowing” – but he continued to question his physical urges. “Sexuality was part of my life, my thoughts, my fantasies, my transgressions. It was this contradiction inside me.”

Ravagnani tried to fight his temptations but eventually lost his virginity while still a priest. He bears no shame about it. “I felt guilty but I was not scared of going to hell. But I know it was a betrayal of my vocation, of God,” he concedes.

“I was a priest who used to pray, a priest who used to talk with other people, a priest who went to the psychologist. I used everything, all the tools the Church gave me, to face my problems. At a certain point I said, ‘Maybe I have to understand what sexuality is without any taboo.’”

During the Covid pandemic, Ravagnani began using social networks in his effort to promote evangelisation and founded a community for young people called Fraternità. Despite leaving the priesthood, he says that he wants to continue working with young people and spreading the word of God.

He also wants to revolutionise the Catholic Church’s attitudes to sexuality so it may one day recognise homosexuality and allow priests to marry.

“Orthodox Christians can marry, evangelicals can marry, everyone can,” he says. “I think we should start talking about it.

“Italian seminaries are empty. It’s going to be very difficult for the Catholic Church because in 10 years, 15 years, there will be very few priests.”

Yet on this, Ravagnani faces an uphill battle. Just a month after his election last year, Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to celibacy. The American pontiff said bishops must remain celibate “and present to all the authentic image of the Church, holy and chaste in her members as in her head”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03...-celibacy/