Gay Tourists Are Not Welcome at the Vatican
With its museums, architecture, gardens, and, of course, religious services, the Vatican is one of the most popular destinations in the world, welcoming millions of tourists every year. However, there is one population that is not welcome in the world's smallest country: gays and lesbians. When asked about Vatican policy on gay tourist groups, Bishop Janusz Kaleta stated frankly that "such demonstrations are simply not ethical." He goes on to describe how the mere presence of homosexuals constitutes a desecration of the holy site: "I consider if someone is homosexual, it is a provocation and an abuse of this place... It is offensive to our buildings and our religion."
It would seem, however, that the Vatican takes another view of the LGBT community when its members create some of the very things that attract so many tourists to those 110 acres in the middle of Rome. Two of the most famous artists in history, Michelangelo and Bernini, are both reputed to have been gay. Both helped make the Vatican what it is today. Michelangelo, of course, painted the famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508. He also designed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, which is the world's tallest dome. Bernini designed St. Peter's Square—the collonade-framed expanse that creates the world-famous vista of St. Peter's. In addition to several marble sculptures that decorate the Vatican's palaces and chapels, Bernini also created the Baldacchino (pictured left), the sculpted bronze canopy that stands over both the tomb of St. Peter and the altar from which the pope delivers mass. These two gay men, among countless others, literally put a roof over the Catholic Church's head and created the works of art that are so central not only to the Catholic faith but also the Vatican's income from tourism.
So the Vatican also represents gay history, and I suspect that until the Swiss Guard develop a better form of gaydar to keep us out, the LGBT community will continue to make pilgrimages to the Vatican to be inspired by that history.
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Comments
How Christian is that
It is just amazing how the senior church hierarchy can be out of step with reality...just another example of why the Vatican is irrelevant to this world...standing as a bastion of antiquity...a memory of the bad old days...
Duh
It should be obvious that an incredibly overt religious city should adhere to incredibly overt religious restrictions.
The KKK doesn't feel welcome in San Francisco, do they? Is that a problem?
Bernini and Michael B. were gay.... probably. We have no real evidence. But assuming they were gay, the Catholic church was just trying to make propaganda to fight protestantism.
Letting gays visit isn't furthering their specific agenda whatsoever. The Vatican feels that gays visiting their "Holy City" is equal to letting Satan visit the city. It is their city, so, let them act as they wish.
But the Vatican has statues
But the Vatican has statues of Pagan Gods and Antinous (the gay lover of Hadrian) in their museum. Wouldn't that be worse than having LGBT people there?
I think they should give those statues to secualr museums, who knows what an over-zealous xtian might do.
SELL THE VATICAN, FEED THE
SELL THE VATICAN, FEED THE WORLD!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bObItmxAGc
For one or two meals. Then
For one or two meals. Then what? Catholic charities feeds hungry people for years on end.
Still this shows that the Vatican's rhetoric that they love gays and lesbians but think we should be celibate is mostly a lie. You really can't love the sinner but hate the sin.
I was at the Vatican several
I was at the Vatican several years back and not having a pair of pants (and refusing to buy 'cardboard' pants that some vendors were hawking) I wrapped a sarong around my waist - and they refused to let me tour the Vatican because I "looked gay." But behind me were some scantily clad girls that had no problem getting in. Go figure.
Not Welcome?
So we're not welcome and yet....
I had a visitor from the Vatican (for the second time) spend 17 minutes at my blog, coming and going to other blog sites -- all of which are gay.
Apparently the Vatican priests have never heard of "SiteMeter."
Yeah, I toured the Vatican
Yeah, I toured the Vatican about a year and a half ago with my partner. We were cruised the whole time by all the security guys that work there. And the Swiss Guard, can there be anything more gay??
Shameful
It's appalling that a church that is suppose to represent love, the God of love, the Jesus who preached love, compassion, understanding, moderation, and wisdom, is so willingly, brazenly, carelessly, unapologetically hateful, prejudiced and exclusive toward specific groups of people. The Vatican thinks nothing of letting the world know that gays, women who seek ordination, non-Christian people, among others, have no place at their table. I often wonder when the last time was that anyone at the Vatican read the Gospels. But most often, I’m heartbroken for friends who are still striving to make their faith in the Catholic Church and angered for the people who are wronged by the Church’s injustice.
Reply to Shameful
You said it best "Shameful". Word!
With all due respect...
It kills me to defend the Catholic Church, but irresponsible reporting kills me too. Nowhere in the article from which this story was originally pulled (http://www.eturbonews.com/12537/are-gay-tourists-welcomed-vatican#commen...) is it stated that Bishop Kaleta was asked about "Vatican policy." He is not a spokesperson for the Vatican, and never said he was speaking for the Vatican. He is a lone Bishop from freakin' Kazakhstan who was attending a tourism conference there. Because of poor reporting like yours, the ramblings of a nobody are now being reported around the world as Vatican gospel. Boo.