POPE HAILS CARDINAL WHO HIRED GAY HOOKERS
Vatican's second-in-command covered up high-level clerical sex abuse
by Jules Gomes • ChurchMilitant.com • June 1, 2022

VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - The world's most powerful cardinal of recent times, who served under three popes, was outed the day after his death as a homosexual who rented gay prostitutes.

In the face of the explosive revelations of the prelate's gay lifestyle, Pope Francis paid glowing tribute to Cdl. Angelo Sodano, describing him as an "ecclesially disciplined man, a lovely shepherd, animated by the desire to spread the yeast of the gospel everywhere."

In a telegram of condolence to Sodano's sister, Francis praised the cardinal as an "esteemed man of the Church, who generously lived his priesthood first in the diocese of Asti and then, for the rest of his long life, in service of the Holy See."

On Saturday, French investigative journalist Frédéric Martel disclosed Sodano's identity as the pseudonymous cardinal nicknamed "La Mongolfiera" ("hot air balloon") in his explosive book In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy.

"I can reveal now that the person called 'La Mongolfiera' in my book #Sodoma (the Italian title of the book) was #AngeloSodano. My rule was not to reveal the homosexuality of a living priest or cardinal. Now that he is dead, the truth can be written," Martel tweeted.

Cardinal Sodano was implicated in most of the major abuse cover-ups by the Vatican

In a second tweet, Martel called Sodano a "great diplomatic figure" and a "nuncio of the extreme Right in Chile, friend of Pinochet, active homosexual, defender of innumerable pedophile priests" and "the hero of my book #Sodoma (La Mongolfiera)."