Police in Spain have busted a diocesan priest and his boyfriend for trafficking in Viagra, a medication to treat erectile dysfunction, and other aphrodisiacs.
The Civil Guard broke into Fr. Alfonso Raúl Masa Soto's residence on Monday in the parish of Don Benito, Badajoz, and arrested the priest and his lover, Eduardo, for peddling sexual enhancers especially popular with homosexuals for their aphrodisiac effects.
Investigators revealed that the couple had received from Germany a shipment of mephedrone.
Mephedrone is a "chemsex" (chemical sex) drug used in recreational settings to facilitate and enhance sexual intercourse — mostly among men who have sex with other men.
Spanish media reported that the priest's church of San Sebastián had become the center of operations from which Fr. Masa and his 37-year-old partner "distributed [the substances] among an increasingly large clientele."
Diocese Apologizes, Priest Freed
The diocese of Plasencia issued a statement on Tuesday noting that the ecclesiastical authorities were "waiting to have more information" and "waiting for the facts to be clarified."
The diocese, led by Bp. Ernesto Jesús Brotóns Tena, expressed regret over the events "due to the pain, suffering and scandal they entail."
We show our willingness to collaborate in everything that is necessary and required of us.
"Attentive to its development, with prudence and respect for the people involved, and from the bishopric we show our willingness to collaborate in everything that is necessary and required of us and to undertake the pertinent actions," the statement added.
On Tuesday, the Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 2 of Don
Benito issued a sentence of "provisional freedom" for Fr. Masa while
compelling him to appear before police on the 1st and 15th of each
month. Eduardo was sent to prison.
The arrests marked the culmination of investigations that began months ago after the agents of the Civil Guard became aware of the illicit activities of the priest and his lover. Locals had been reporting a constant movement of people in the rectory.
Beloved Parish Priest
Parishioners expressing shock and bewilderment told Spanish media that Fr. Masa was a "popular priest" who was "much loved by his flock."
The orgy went awry when the sex worker keeled over from an overdose of erectile dysfunction pills.
Residents of the three towns where he was previously the parish priest even launched a signature campaign and sent letters to Bp. Brotóns in January 2019 to prevent Masa's transfer.
The petitioners noted that Fr. Masa's ministry enabled them "to feel what the figure of a parish priest really is: closeness and knowing how to be in any situation."
The priest, petitioners said, also initiated new projects that "achieved the involvement of the town in all the proposed activities and the collaboration of the youngest."
Father Soto is a native of Miajadas and was trained at the Plasencia seminary. Five years ago he was transferred to Don Benito from Fuentes de Béjar.
Plethora of Pleasure Parties
In September 2023, Church Militant reported the arrest of Polish priest Fr. Tomasz Zmarzły, who had sparked scandal after an orgy of homosexual priests ended with a male escort suffering a heart attack from a Viagra overdose.
Police and ambulance personnel forced entry into the sex party organized by Fr. Zmarzły, editor of the Catholic weekly Niedziela Sosnowiecka, after the priest reportedly refused to let them in.
Father Zmarzły, who had served as a priest at the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels in Sosnowiec diocese, had invited two other priests and a sex worker to the "bunga bunga" party at his apartment on the night of Aug. 30.
The orgy went awry when the sex worker keeled over from an overdose of erectile dysfunction pills.
One of the priests called an ambulance, but when paramedics arrived, Fr. Zmarzły and another priest refused to open the door of the apartment, which is owned by the Catholic weekly.
Father Zmarzły was stripped of all clerical duties and fired from his post as editor.
The event was advertised on Facebook as offering a 'faggot, free and rebellious' New Year.
Bishop Grzegorz Kaszak of the Sosnowiec diocese resigned following an online petition pleading with Pope Francis to dismiss Kaszak and create a Vatican commission "with the participation of lay people that will restore faith in the honesty and transparency of the Church."
In 2017, Vatican gendarmerie raided a drug-fueled homosexual orgy at an apartment at the Palazzo del Sant'Uffizio (Palace of the Holy Office), used by the secretary of Cdl. Francesco Coccopalmerio, one of Pope Francis' key advisers.
The flat where they discovered hard drugs and a group of men engaged in homosexual activity is in the same building as the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
At the time, Coccopalmerio was president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, the Church's most important canon law office.
Francesco Antonio Grana, who broke the story, says Pope Francis, whose Casa Santa Marta residence is just 500 yards from the holy office, was aware of the raid and knew of the priest's capture.
In 2020, a residential building secured for migrants by Pope Francis' almoner, Cdl. Konrad Krajewski, was used for an illegal, drug-and-alcohol-fueled gay rave on New Year's Eve, Church Militant reported.
The event was advertised on Facebook as offering a "faggot, free and rebellious" New Year.