New information has surfaced from The Pillar, a Catholic media outlet, accusing Vatican officials and employees of using the gay hookup app Grindr on and off the holy grounds.
The Pillar acquired what it says is reliable data that reveals at least 32 different serial users who were located within secured areas and buildings of the Vatican inaccessible to tourists and pilgrims at the time they were utilizing the app.
Grindr is an app that allows people (typically of homosexual or bisexual orientation) to casually hook up with each other, going so far as to conceal users’ identities to enable them a completely anonymous encounter.
This particular data was accrued during 26 weeks in 2018; however, it is not the only data collected.
The Pillar discovered that other dating apps like Badoo and Skout have also been accessed within Vatican walls. These apps also connect people who are within the vicinity of each other but are typically accessed by heterosexuals.
The Pillar stated that after reviewing commercially available app signal data of the Newark archdiocese, patterns revealed that the location-based hookup app was used at more than 10 archdiocesan rectories and clerical residences during 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Attempts were made to get an in-person interview before the scandalous information was released. The Pillar had initially contacted the Newark archdiocese on July 8 to request an off-the-record meeting with Cardinal Joseph Tobi. A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Newark, Maria Margiotta, asked for more information, but the meeting never convened.
Margiotta did, however, take a moment for plausible deniability, “The inappropriate use of any app or communication tool would pose a concern in any circumstance and for any community. Although the use of such an app, and its use in a specific location, does not provide direct evidence of any specific activity, the Archdiocese of Newark takes seriously all complaints of misconduct or abuse by members of the clergy, religious, lay staff, and volunteers of the Archdiocese.”
So the Pillar instead sought out and was granted an audience on July 18 with both Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, and Dr. Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican’s dicastery for communications.
The content of the 90-minute meeting was agreed to be off the record, though The Pillar’s intent to share their findings during the meeting and the fact that the meeting occurred is public knowledge.
Another meeting with United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) senior officials was scheduled for the following day on July 19 but was subsequently canceled. Instead, they requested that The Pillar submit questions in written form to which they would later respond.
Questions were submitted late Sunday night, with Monday as the response deadline. At the request of the USCCB, the deadline was moved to Tuesday, July 20, and a meeting was offered to The Pillar for the same day.
On their way to the meeting, The Pillar learned that USCCB General Secretary Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill had announced his resignation in response to “impending media reports alleging possible improper behavior.”
The referenced impending media reports were likely those from The Pillar, who had submitted their information before publication, hoping to gain access to Burrill.
The Pillar had initially found evidence that linked former Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill not only to the Grindr app as a user but that the priest had “engaged in serial sexual misconduct, while he held a critical oversight role in the Catholic Church’s response to the recent spate of sexual abuse and misconduct scandals.” The person they wanted to confront with their findings was no longer accessible.
Though the news outlet complied with all requests, they were denied response from the USCCB except this one, given three days later on July 23: “We have examined the questions you have posed to His Eminence the Secretary of State following on your meeting of July 17. At this point, also in the light of what happened in recent days, I can say that no statement will be provided.”
Vatican officials have said that “Vatican City State policy does not presently prohibit employees or residents from the use of location-based hookup apps, even within secured locations connected to diplomatic responsibilities.”
A priest takes a vow of celibacy and abstinence, one that is instantly broken the moment a dating app of any kind is downloaded and utilized.
Margiotta confirmed that as well when she said, “It is not acceptable for any member of the clergy to use any app or website in a way that is inconsistent with Church teachings and their own religious vows. Similarly, it is inappropriate for anyone to use an app or website in a way that is inconsistent with Church teachings.”
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