Book Eyes Homosexuality in Clergy By VICTOR L. SIMPSON .c The Associated Press ROME (AP) - A papal biographer has broken a taboo, exploring homosexuality in the ranks of Italy's Roman Catholic clergy. Marco Politi's newly published book ``La Confessione'' - ``The Confession'' - presents the testimony of a priest struggling to balance his homosexuality with his commitment to a church that considers homosexual acts a sin. The priest, who is never identified, discloses that a network of homosexual priests is active in the Italian church. It is described as an informal ``self-help group'' that lives in the ``catacombs'' of the church - the underground. ``There are always those who fear being discovered by superiors and listed as partners in a homosexual corporation. It's incredible how the fear is so widespread,'' the priest says through the author in the nonfiction account, written in the first person. The book's publication follows an intense public discussion of homosexuality in Italy, generated by July gay pride festivities in Rome that were denounced by the pope. Some public figures began to talk about their homosexuality, something previously unheard of in Italy. Politi, who covers the Vatican for the Rome newspaper La Repubblica, was co-author, with American journalist Carl Bernstein, of ``His Holiness,'' a biography of Pope John Paul II. He said he had difficulty finding a publisher for his new book because ``there was a certain amount of fear'' to overcome in the Vatican's backyard. The gamble paid off, he said. The first edition of 5,000 copies, published by Rome-based Riuniti, sold out in three weeks and even won some praise in the newspaper published by the Italian Bishops Conference. The review in L'Avvenire complimented the author for an account that doesn't ``spy through a keyhole on the intimate and everyday behavior of a person.'' But it took issue with the suggestion that the church shows little understanding for priests struggling with their homosexuality. The Rev. Antonio Mazzi, a prominent Italian priest who runs a drug rehabilitation community called Exodus, recently spoke of knowing homosexual priests ``who live a tormented life.'' ``Many are young. It's a phenomenon that's spreading, above all in seminaries,'' Mazzi told the newsweekly Panorama. Despite John Paul's hard-line position on homosexuality - he called the gay pride festival offensive to Christians - Politi's priest expressed admiration for the pope. ``He's something like my ideal that I am unable to realize, or to realize in a very mediocre way,'' he said.
