The information about "Fr. Euro" came from a book by Mangiacapra, "Numero Uno. Confessioni di un marchettaro" (Number One. Confessions of a gigolo).
Both the Church and the Italian magistrates are now called to investigate and – in case Mangiacapra's allegation are proven true – to punish those who are guilty.
However, both the dossier and the allegations against Fr. Euro seem to be part of Mangiacapra's media campaign, which has led him to be a special guest on many radio and tv shows in Italy.
In many talk shows, Mangiacapra has advanced innuendos, violated the privacy of people being investigated and contributed to generate a "media circus" that is merely intended to attack the Catholic Church.
At the beginning of the dossier, Mangiacapra wrote: "I drafted this list of rotten apples not with the aim of digging up dirt on the Church, but rather with the aim of contributing to eradicate the rotten that would contaminate what is still good."
Mangiacapra also attacked the "attitude of those bishops who have been already informed and that have not taken any measures," saying a bishop should intervene when he hears allegations and not only when "a scandal breaks."
Speaking on an Italian radio show, he added that "I am not going to sue anyone, but I did send a dossier to the Curia, since we are talking about sins, not about crimes."
Was the Mangiacapra behaviour proper to tackle the issue? And what will happen in case these priests, whose names are now in newspapers, are found not guilty?
These questions are floating in Rome, and it is not the first time. Similar scandals have previously been used to attack the Church, though investigations have not led to much.
In 2010, an undercover investigation by an Italian magazine generated the same scandal. The article denounced the habits of some homosexual Roman priests filmed while having intercourse.
The Vicariate of Rome, led at the time by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, delivered a strongly worded release condemning the behaviors of the involved priests and pledging to clean up the Church.
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However, the cardinal also noted that "the intent of the article is evident: generate a scandal, defame all priests on the basis of declarations from one of the people interviewed claiming that '98 percent of priests' he knows are homosexual."
These investigations led to the publication of a book (titled in English 'Sex and the Vatican'): a sign that generating scandals about the Italian Church can offer further publicity.
Beyond the media campaigns, the problem of homosexual behaviour among priests has been addressed by the Church in recent years.
In 2005, an instruction issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education – at that time entrusted with overseeing seminaries – stressed that "in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture.'"
The instruction – drawing from previous documents of the magisterium – had been under study for while.
In the end, it is obvious that the Church is aware of homosexual behavior among its priests, and should be. But, in the Italian Church, it seems clear that other motives can be in play in the drama of public exposés.