LifeSiteNews revealed Wednesday that Pope Francis knowingly assigned a problematic priest plum Vatican real estate as a favor to a friendly Cardinal. The priest, Monsignor Luigi Capozzi, was later busted by the Vatican’s private police force, the Swiss Guard, for having a “drug-fueled gay orgy” in that same apartment.
A source tells LifeSite that “Francis himself” gave Capozzi the apartment as a favor to his personal friend Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, who is described as one of Pope Francis’ “closest collaborators and ardent supporters.” Capozzi was Cardinal Coccopalmerio’s personal secretary.
The apartment reportedly belonged to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican body responsible for explaining, defending, and acting on Catholic dogma (it is also the body now in charge of handling accusations of sexual abuse, thanks to a change made under Pope Benedict XVI), and when the head of the CDF requested use of the apartment, he was told it was filled by order of the Holy Father.
“Cardinal Gerhard Müller had tried to get an apartment for one of his secretaries at the Palazzo del Sant’Ufficio, where the CDF is also located. There was an apartment free at the time of Müller’s inquiry, and the cardinal submitted a request for his secretary,” LifeSite reports. “But then, the source said, Pope Francis informed Cardinal Müller via a personal note that this apartment was not available for his secretary because Cardinal Coccopalmerio needed it for his secretary Luigi Capozzi.”
Last July, the Swiss Guard busted Capozzi’s party at that very apartment after neighbors (likely also clergy) “voiced concerns” about noise coming from the apartment at all hours.
“Once police were inside the apartment, they said they found multiple men engaged in rampant drug use and homosexual activity,” the New York Post reported. Capozzi was first taken to a Rome hospital where he was allowed to detox from the drugs. He was then placed under arrest. He was eventually placed on “retreat” in Italy.
Coccopalmerio was placed on “accelerated retirement.”
According to reports from last year, Coccopalmerio had nominated Capozzi to become a Bishop. Thankfully, that request — unlike the request for a prestigious apartment — went unfulfilled.
LifeSite also reports that Pope Francis knew of complaints about Capozzi before assigning him the apartment.
“Pope Francis had been informed by someone about Luigi Capozzi’s problems,” the source told LifeSite, “but he gave him anyway the apartment.”
The news comes amid allegations that Pope Francis protected and promoted Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, despite knowing that McCarrick was the subject of claims of sexual abuse. The Pope has yet to confirm or deny those allegations, and the Vatican says he is “serene.”