By Frédéric Martel. Published by Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019. Reviewed by Mike Riddell

Written by a French journalist after four years of research both in the inner world of the Vatican and through wider enquiry, this book makes startling claims. Martel asserts that the majority of Catholic cardinals are homosexual by nature, if not indeed practising. They, and most of the Curia, he asserts, are “of the parish” — a shorthand recognition of those clergy who exhibit homophilia, with many engaged in active relationships.

This in itself is perhaps not as surprising as it first might seem. The rampant clericalism entrenched in the Vatican leads to many aberrations, especially in the hothouse environment in which male authority is coupled with enforced celibacy and rigid secrecy. The book itself is an exposé, translated into eight languages and published simultaneously in 20 countries. The publisher describes it as “investigative writing”.

Therein lies my chief discomfort with this book. I have no way of knowing how accurate the representations of gay sex among cardinals are. But the point is that I feel the same way after reading the work. Its style is breathless rather than journalistic, with conversations apparently representing inside opinion being unnecessarily gossipy, and lacking in verification. The work is also at least a third too long, and clumsily written.

Nothing would surprise me regarding skewed behaviour in the Vatican (though I’d assume only skewed in terms of vows of celibacy — if clergy in Rome are wont to break their vow, it might as well be with a man as a woman). However, I came away from the book feeling that it had been rather over-egged. If you are going to assert such a raucous gay capital of licentiousness, you better have facts to back it up. I remained unconvinced and, therefore, dissatisfied.