In the Closet of the Vatican

Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy

By: Frederic Martel

Narrated by: John Banks

Length: 22 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

In the Closet of the Vatican is a fascinating description and evaluation of financial, sexual and political misconduct throughout the Catholic Church at a time when new revelations are being uncovered each and every week. This audiobook explores the underlying causes and includes interviews with numerous Cardinals and other individuals, some of whom cannot be named.

Martel reveals financial scandals in the Vatican bank; political collusion with unsavoury regimes, including Castro’s Cuba and Pinochet’s Chile; sexual abuse and hypocrisy over homosexuality. In this explosive account, Martel goes to the heart of corruption in the Catholic Church and inside the Vatican itself.

Martel is a researcher and writer. He has a PhD in social sciences and four master's degrees in law, political science, philosophy, and social science (University La Sorbonne). He has been visiting scholar at Harvard University and taught at Sciences-Po Paris and at the HEC’s Business School MBA in Paris.

He is the author of nine books, including On Culture in America (Gallimard, 2006) and the best seller Mainstream: On the Global War on Culture and Medias (Flammarion, 2010, translated in 20 countries). He has had articles in Newsweek, the New Yorker and the New York Times.

©2019 Frederic Martel (P)2019 Audible Studios

Fascinating reading

A book that should be read or listened to by everyone with a catholic background.

As a Catholic myself the book has real force.

The writing style of the book is a mix of academic work, methodic and involved, and yet it steps back from being only thing by a large amount of story telling and reports of a large number of interviews If one was asked is this book primarily a psychological reflection or a sociological one, then sociology gets the tick in its box. A number of times Martel is able to point to how the story of the individual is linked to the problem and issue a whole society experiences and is required to face as a result of the telling of that individual's story. Finally there is one idea Martel offers which is noteworthy. He points to the presence of both gay people and non-gays in the Vatican but does not then argue there are two lobbies, one gay and the other straight. He observes while there are gay individuals, group formation for them, the capacity to be a political block is not there because that sexual orientation or interest can't be socially acknowledged. There is the ability for a political movement that attacks gays to be formed, and it is there in the Vatican, and it is populated by many who are homophile. There is permission for this group formation and Martel gives time to explain how this faction operates. This book is socking for some, as a Catholic the news that some in the Vatican are gay is no surprise, however the goings on, the things said and done, that can be indeed unsettling. A book which can be recommended to those who are willing to be open to what it offers.

in the closet of the church's very soul

What can I say? The few anecdotes that I know from reliable sources, the double-lived priests I know or have known, the vast culture of hypocrisy, and the reactionary leanings of so much of the church's leadership, coupled with the never-ending cover-ups of more and more sexual abuse cases involving prelates and priests lends much credence to Martel's journalism. American journalists do not muckrake like they did in the early 20th century, and even the Boston Globe's heroic Spotlight series stopped short of breaking open the walls to this cloistered bureaucracy, the house of secrets known as the Catholic Church. Frederic Martel and his team of able assistants were like a Trojan Horse invited into the very heart and soul of Catholicism, its nerve center behind the Vatican walls. Bravo. Now if only we can get every literate Catholic to read this book!

What we've always known is true …. Mystery Babylon

Jesus will judge this 'abomination' harshly! All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.” Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues. For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.…

Riveting

Loved this. Absolutely amazing with straight up naming names and exposing the "hive" of the Vatican!

Interresting , to a point

This book could and should have been written with only half the pages ... It is 576 pages long, that's 22 hours of reading ! The author spends pages after pages giving details that are not always necessary but that are repetitive. Also you get lost in the endless list of names. You lose interest in his argument because it so long , it's a bit like when you are in a maze and you realise you've been there for too long and you get tired of it. The prologue however really impressed me : it is both illuminating and beautifully written. Some portraits he draws of some cardinals are also very striking, sometimes downright hilarious. But definetly not a book I will ever read again.

Gay agenda seeking in the end, but well researched

It is apparent in this book that Frederic Martel believes the Roman Catholic Church should abide by the postmodern standards of himself and many others. The Church, for example, should adopt a more open position toward queer, radically feminist, or liberation theologies and not be stuck in a past that, for Martel, would be riddled with errors. Martel is under the impression that teachings from the past are always in error because they are from the past and don't pass muster with his postmodern ideals. Martel doesn't realize that homosexual priests, religious, and laymen didn't sign up for a doctrine that accepts homosexual intercourse, but, for Martel, they should be allowed into dialogue with the Church in the end to change the Church's teaching on sexuality. Martel heavily criticizes popes prior to Francis who have asserted their authority in combatting the demoralizing sexual lapses of western culture since the past century. They were doing their job. Martel, as a journalist with postmodernist ideals, doesn't understand that the Church is not a democracy. Popes, bishops, and priests teach the faith as it is. The people, especially in the postmodern age, are given the choice to accept or reject the Gospel.
Like almost all journalists, Martel doesn't acknowledge the difference between the molestation of those too young to sexually respond (pedophilia) and the molestation of those barely old enough to sexually respond (ephebophilia). Martel liberally distributes the word pedophilia throughout his book when many cases in the Church dealt with an ephebophilia of a homosexual nature. This indicates the Church has an active homosexual problem more so than a pedophilia problem.
On the other hand, as popes, bishops, and priests teach the faith, they should live up to their standards, as Martel asserts, on what sexuality should be for Catholics. They haven't lived up to these standards, as Martel demonstrates. If not molesting young people themselves, clergy, especially in the episcopate, are covering up for clergy guilty of crimes. They preach against homosexual intercourse, encouraging homosexuals to live chaste lives, but their hypocrisy is blatant.
This is a discouraging work for faithful Catholics to read although they may not agree with Martel's commentary on the alleged facts. Martel exposes the active homosexuality in the Church and especially in the Vatican. It is a discouraging book as well for heterosexual men who wish to enter the priesthood. Heterosexual candidates for the priesthood may not experience active homosexuality in the seminary or amongst their priestly superiors whether they be in the faculty, administration, or at the home parish. But they will definitely come across a homophilia apparent throughout the clergy and the seminaries, as Martel aptly shows. I can attest to this as a former Roman Catholic seminarian.
I gave the book four out of five stars because I thought it was well-researched and well-written. It lacks one star due to the aggressive gay agenda for advocacy of doctrinal changes. Martel is a journalist with democratically journalistic ideals, but he is not a theologian.

just wow

this was an eye opening look at the experiences of the community. the author's bravery and dedication to getting the full story was inspiring.

"Houston, we have a problem."

As a socially conservative Democrat and a Roman Catholic I could have taken offense at the author's numerous accusations that anyone being anti-gay was automatically gay. Case in point being the numerous members of the Curia, from priest to Pope accused of being gay or assumed to be, Due to their "fake" social conservatism such as the Traditionalist Burke "the Cardinal queen." It is amazing how many members of the Curia were in fact, interviewed by this author. And even more amazing just how many of the Curia is thought to be gay or gay homophiles. It is as if the entire circle of men around the Popes (Pope Saint John XXIII to the Blessed Pope Paul VI to Pope Saint John Paul II to Pope Francis today) e.g. the entire cadre of responsible men around the Holy See and his Cardinals (and the Cardinals too) and their Bishops and priests (and the Bishops and priests too) have been nothing more than maniacal sex fiends addicted to plush surroundings and expensive accouterment. From the paintings on the office walls to the luxuriant carpets (all strewn about) to the equally luxuriant furniture. The author spent a great deal of time making the point that the Blessed Pope Paul VI was NOT gay. Why? Not until in the last paragraph of the book does the author admit being gay himself. I found this book to be self-serving on his part (in the sense that he thinks that he and everyone are gay). If clerics do not soon begin legal proceedings for libel and slander then one must assume we are reading the truth. The Roman Catholic Church is being led by degenerate homosexuals. I must say that the author is a very high-quality writer. The translator was of high-quality too. The performer was near perfect. The church lingo was perfectly brought to the ear. I must say, though, that the author is astonishingly cynical and sure of himself but well informed of history. How he obtained all the sensitive interviews remains to be seen. And the Curia was cleaned like a trout before frying. Its guts spilled out and all about. (I gave the story a two because it was gratuitous)

Rings True and Explains Much about the Church

First, about the book itself. The author is a gifted narrator and obviously did extensive research. The nature of the subject means that often he is relying on second hand information but he weighs this information and often explains why he disbelieved some accusations. Sometimes he gives elaborate descriptions of his interviewees and some may wish less detail had been given. Still his prose in English translation is excellent and worth the read. The audio performance is outstanding and the reader handles the embedded foreign words (usually explained by the author) and names flawlessly. Yes, a good portion of the book is hearsay but it rings true and matches my own observations over the years.