An Italian magazine has published an investigation into the double life of gay priests in Rome, which captures men of the cloth visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex.
Panaroma, which is owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, used hidden cameras to catch the priests in the act.
Titled "Gay Priests' Nights on the Town", it offers details on their "vices and perversions" obtained over a month of undercover reporting.
One priest, a Frenchman in his 30s identified as 'Father Paul', attended a party at which there were two male prostitutes then said Mass the following morning, before driving them to the airport. There is a photo of him apparently wearing his collar but no trousers.
In other shots, priests were shown kissing the magazine's collaborator.
The Roman Catholic diocese has released a statement saying it is "saddened and troubled" by the story, insisting that the vast majority of Rome's 1,300 priests are truthful to their vocations and "models of morality for all."
It has ordered gay priests who are leading a double life to come out of the closet and leave the priesthood.
A former Italian MP and gay activist Franco Grillini has toldThe Guardian "If all the gays in the Catholic church were to leave it at once – something we would very much like – they would cause it serious operational problems."
