He’s written unfavorably of homosexuals on a number of occasions, and long counseled novice priests and students grappling with their sexuality. Now, as is the law of the land, Monsignor Tony Anatrella stands accused of having sexual exploits with male clients.
Earlier in 2016, Anatrella — a regular Vatican consultant on all things homosexual — informed new Bishops they needn’t bother reporting suspected sexual abusers to authorities.
Daniel Lamarca claims Anatrella participated in a great number of sex acts with him in his own Paris office, and says these rendezvous were occurring as recently as a few years ago. Allegedly, Anatrella’s seduction scheme amounted to telling Lamarca that the best way to be rid of “pseduo-homosexuality” is to have sex with other men.
Religious News Service reveals Lamarca reported Anatrella’s actions to the archbishop of Paris back in 2011, but there was no followup and his claims were roundly ignored.
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There’s another unnamed ex-seminarian who says Anatrella counseled him for fourteen years until 2011, eventually scheduling “special sessions” that involved mutual masturbation.
The Archdiocese of Paris says they received a compliant in 2014, but couldn’t pursue action against Anatrella since it was an anonymous complaint.
Back in 2005, Anatrella wrote guidelines for the Vatican; a sort of primer on how to keep homosexuals out of the priesthood. He called homosexuality “an incompleteness and a profound immaturity of human sexuality” in an editorial he wrote for L’Osservatore Romano, a daily Vatican newsletter.
Other tidbits from the article include Anatrella callling homosexuality “a problem in the psychic organization” and stating that the Catholic Church, for theological reasons, should only deal with “men mature in their masculine identity.”
He also penned a collection of “warning signs” that suggest a seminarian is homosexual: students who have troubled relationships with their dads, isolated lone wolves, people who perused pornography, and people who often saw themselves as victims.
Just last February, he was instrumental in planning a conference at the Pontifical Gregoain University in Rome on celibacy in the priesthood.
We’re sorry to have missed it.
h/t: Towleroad