By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-11-06 19:21:35 | Updated at 2024-11-06 22:35:35
3 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // Monsignor Andrea Turazzi, the emeritus bishop of San Marino, Italy, has retracted a controversial statement in which he claimed that St. Louis Gonzaga, the patron saint of purity, was likely homosexual.
The claim, made during a lecture in Tresigallo, Italy, sparked widespread criticism and led to significant backlash, La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana reported. Faced with a firm rebuttal from the saint’s direct descendants, Monsignor Turazzi admitted that his statement was based on an unsubstantiated opinion and not grounded in historical fact.
During a recent lecture, Monsignor Turazzi had referenced unnamed “scholars” who supposedly believed the saint had a homosexual inclination, despite his well-documented vow of chastity and lifelong commitment to purity.
“[D]id you know,” the bishop asked the crowd, “that Saint Luigi Gonzaga, according to scholars, was homosexual? And he was the saint of purity! So, before God, there is no one who is not tenderly loved, and each one has their own path.”
The bishop’s comments quickly went viral, drawing attention from critics who argued that there was no historical evidence to support such a claim.
Prince Maurizio Gonzaga, a descendant of the saint, called the suggestion “pure speculation” and emphasized that there was no evidence in the saint’s writings to suggest any such inclination, according to La Bussola.
The historical documents in reality tell a very different story of St. Louis Gonzaga: that of a young man who, with great devotion, upheld a vow of chastity, served the poor, and lived a life of remarkable charity.
When La Bussola contacted Monsignor Turazzi for clarification, he admitted that the claim he made was based on an opinion from a Jesuit priest, a graphologist, who had merely suggested that the saint might have been homosexual — without any supporting evidence. The bishop appeared to retract his statement, conceding that if St. Gonzaga’s descendants denied the claim, he would take back his words.
“If you tell me that the descendants deny it, then… I’ll retract everything,” Monsignor Turazzi told La Bussola.
