Brutta Figura All Around

Double-wallop on the gay front:

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has reportedly fired his top aide after discovering the man is gay.

Not really his top aide -- it's M-O'C's press secretary -- but close enough....

The Mail reports that Stephen Noon's sexuality was discovered when his long-term partner visited him at his office.

"His partner came to the office at the end of the day and was introduced to the Cardinal," a friend of the couple tells The Mail.

"Shortly afterwards the Church made it clear that his sexuality was incompatible with the job he had to do. Since he was the spokesperson for the Cardinal, Murphy-O'Connor clearly felt he had to act because homosexual acts are regarded by the Church as a sin," the friend was quoted as saying.

More on that from Ruth Gledhill in The Times...

...and if that wasn't enough for you, it gets weirder, worse -- pick your adjective:

Meanwhile, in Rome, the Vatican is vehemently denying published reports that a senior Church official had been arrested while looking for a male or a transsexual prostitute in an area of the city know for its hustlers.

The Ansa news agency and Italian newspapers report that the 48-year-old priest - whose rank was withheld and who was identified only by [his] initials... - works in the office of the secretary of state of the Vatican.

"Information disseminated this morning by newspapers concerning a cleric in service at the Vatican are totally without foundation," a Vatican statement said.

The media outlets are standing by their stories.

The Holy See, however, has even held out the possibility of defamation suits over this....

And it's only Monday morning.

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