Pope Francis responded by rewriting Vatican penal law in 2019, explicitly criminalizing “the use of office to solicit sexual acts” and making it a “crime against the dignity of the person” – an unprecedented move. Vatican journalist Edward Pentin, a conservative, has long alleged that a network called “Sotto-Sopra” (Upside Down) – a homosexual network within the Curia – functions like a secret society. According to witnesses, some meetings occur in the Vatican itself, involving priests, lay officials, and occasionally guardsmen who are “discreet.”
Because of this proximity to absolute spiritual power, Swiss Guards have often found themselves at the center of Vatican intrigue—not as perpetrators, but as witnesses, whistleblowers, or, occasionally, tragic victims. gaybelamiscandalinthevatican2theswissguardpart new
In 2017, the Vatican police arrested Msgr. Lucio Ángel Vallejo Balda and Francesca Chaouqui for leaking documents. Those documents included references to a Swiss Guard member who testified before a Vatican tribunal that he had been sexually propositioned by a bishop during a Vatican-funded “spiritual retreat.” Pope Francis responded by rewriting Vatican penal law