Gay Vatican Priest Outed on TV; Ousted by Holy See

The Vatican yesterday suspended a senior official caught on hidden camera making advances to a man and saying that he didn't believe he was sinning by being involved with gays. Italian television showed the priest with his face distorted, but Vatican officials recognized the office where he was filmed. The suspended priest, Monsignor Tomasso Stenico, works for the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy, which aims to ensure proper conduct by priests.

 Vatican officials "had to intervene decisively and with the severity required by conduct not compatible with priestly service," said an official, who added that the investigation would continue with "respect for the person involved, even if this person erred." Stenico decried the television program's use of hidden cameras. "Don't condemn me," he told an AP reporter.