Italian Mag Has Names of Gay Priests

The editor of Italian magazine Panorama claims the reporter who detailed the exploits of gay priests for a story in the magazine has the names and addresses of the closeted Catholic priests.

Panamora's editor, Giorgio Mule, said reporter Carmelo Abbate has the information about the priests. He was responding to Catholic leaders questioning the validity of Panamora's recent cover story, which details the sex lives of gay priests around Rome. The undercover story uses unnamed sources, according to The Irish Times.

The article follows Abbate's exploration of the gay party scene in the Holy See area, where Abbate reportedly witnessed many Catholic priests attending.

Those who criticize the article accuse Panorama of functioning as a government attack on the Catholic Church because the magazine is connected with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has a tense relationship with the church.