Bombshell of sex and lies fails to detonate

A new book paints a picture of rampant homosexuality in the Catholic Church but builds castles on the sands of rumours and innuendo, writes TP O’Mahony.

If Pope Francis is facing a blowback from the conviction of Cardinal George Pell — who was the Vatican’s finance chief — for sexually abusing two choirboys in 1996 when he was Archbishop of Melbourne, and negative reaction to the global summit on clerical sex abuse (the latter being the greatest crisis facing the Catholic Church since the Reformation), then there will be further distress for him caused by the shocking revelations contained in a new book.