Vatican Sees Gay Festival as an Affront

Nearly halfway into the Roman Catholic Church’s millennial Holy Year, the nightmares of its organizers--unwieldy crowds, gridlock, terrorism, the sudden collapse of an overworked pope--have yet to come true.

But when a group of prelates sat down in the Vatican last month to watch a three-hour video, they perceived a terrible new menace to the yearlong event: an international gay pride festival scheduled here July 1-9.

The film, sent by William Levada, archbishop of San Francisco, contains news and documentary footage of a 1998 gay parade in his city. Some irreverent homosexual activists are shown dressed as priests and nuns; others are dressed in nothing at all.

Now, turning what it calls blasphemy into propaganda, the Vatican has made the video available to Italian politicians who are trying to block the gay gathering here. On Thursday, Catholic political activists sought to outrage rush-hour pedestrians by showing parts of it on a big screen set up on a corner of the heavily traveled Via del Corso.

Opposition by the Vatican to the planned World Pride festival, which it calls an unholy affront to Holy Year pilgrims, has created some of the greatest tension between the Holy See and City Hall in years, challenged Rome’s image as a tolerant world capital and energized Italy’s gay community.

About 200,000 homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals from all over the world are expected here for panel discussions, sports events, fashion shows, a parade and a pop concert featuring disco diva Gloria Gaynor and the Village People. Denying any intention of offending the church, organizers have invited Pope John Paul II to address a panel about “Sexual Diversity, Religious Intolerance and Strategies for Change.”

John Paul, whose church brands homosexuality a disorder and homosexual acts sinful, has not replied. But Cardinal Camillo Ruini, secretary of the Italian Bishops Conference, insists that the gay festival be moved or postponed.

“Not now, not in Rome,” he said. Otherwise, “we will be disappointed and annoyed.”

The Vatican’s clout stems from an accord between Italy and the Holy See to preserve the city’s “sacredness.” City officials once used the clause to justify pulling down what the Vatican called obscene film ads of Brigitte Bardot.

Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, a socialist and devout Catholic, has called the World Pride event “inopportune,” prompting Rome Mayor Francesco Rutelli this week to withdraw City Hall’s sponsorship and its promise of $175,000 in funding.

So far, Rutelli has refused to ban the event, citing Rome’s “ancient code of hospitality and respect” and Italy’s constitutional protection of free speech. But World Pride has become so politicized--neo-fascists promise a counterdemonstration--that organizers fear losing control of the event.

“We don’t need to have people dressing up in pope outfits and marching on St. Peter’s,” said Deborah Oakley-Melvin, an American serving as international director for the festival. “But we thought the climate would be calm and positive. Now a gauntlet has been thrown down.”

The controversy already has shaken up local politics, giving Italy’s gay activists more attention than they had expected, along with some hope for a bill--now languishing in Parliament--that would outlaw hate crimes and a wide range of discriminatory practices against homosexuals.

More so than ever, prominent heterosexual Italians stood up this week for gay rights. The wives of the prime minister and the mayor broke with their husbands to defend the gay celebration, as did the leader of Rome’s Jewish community, recalling that homosexuals, along with Jews, were singled out for Nazi death camps in World War II.

Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, Italy’s agriculture minister, also endorsed the event--in a magazine interview in which he disclosed his bisexuality.

“Rome has seen so many things in its 2,700 years,” Italian sociologist Franco Ferrarotti said. “The Vatican may be more visible and powerful because of the Holy Year, and our politicians may bow to gain its favor. But Romans are blase about this gay march. They’re not going to be scandalized.”