Frederic Martel

The New York Times bestselling account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican. In the Closet of the Vatican exposes the rot at the heart of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church today. This brilliant piece of investigative writing is based on four years’ authoritative research, including extensive interviews with those in power. The celibacy of priests, the condemnation of the use of contraceptives, countless cases of sexual abuse, the resignation of Benedict XVI, misogyny among the clergy, the dramatic fall in Europe of the number of vocations to the priesthood, the plotting against Pope Francis – all these issues are clouded in mystery and secrecy. In the Closet of the Vatican is a book that reveals these secrets and penetrates this enigma. It derives from a system founded on a clerical culture of secrecy which starts in junior seminaries and continues right up to the Vatican itself. It is based on the double lives of priests and on extreme homophobia. The resulting schizophrenia in the Church is hard to fathom. But the more a prelate is homophobic, the more likely it is that he is himself gay. "Behind rigidity there is always something hidden, in many cases a double life." These are the words of Pope Francis himself and with them, the Pope has unlocked the Closet. No one can claim to really understand the Catholic Church today until they have read this book. It reveals a truth that is extraordinary and disturbing.

Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy

In the Closet of the Vatican

Avatar, Shakira, Spielberg, Desperate Housewives, Slumdog Millionaire, Disney, Michael Jackson, MTV… What is it about these cultural phenomena that attracts everyone, everywhere? Sociologist and journalist Frédéric Martel devoted over five years of research, interviewing 1,200 people in the entertainment capitals of thirty countries—from Hollywood to Bollywood, Tokyo to Miami, Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Qatar toTelevisa’s headquarters in Mexico City—to draw an worrying conclusion: a new world war to control words, images and dreams has begun.

cómo nacen los fenómenos de masas

Cultura Mainstream

"In [this book], Frédéric Martel visits more than fifty countries and documents a revolution underway around the world: the globalization of LGBT rights. From Saudi Arabia to South Africa, from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, from Singapore to the United States, activists, culture warriors, and ordinary people are part of a movement. Martel interviews the proprietor of a 'gay-friendly' café in Amman, Jordan; a Cuban-American television journalist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; a South African jurist who worked with Nelson Mandela to enshrine gay rights in the country's constitution; an American lawyer who worked on the campaign for marriage equality; an Egyptian man who fled his country after escaping a raid on a gay club; and many others. He tells us that in China, homosexuality is neither prohibited nor permitted, and that much Chinese gay life takes place on social media; that in Iran, because of the strict separation of the sexes, it can sometimes seem as easy to be gay as it is to go to jail for being so; and that Raul Castro's daughter, a gay rights icon in Cuba, expressed her anti-American sentiments by calling for Cuban Pride celebrations to be held in May rather than in June, as they are in the United States. At least ten countries maintain the death penalty for homosexuals. 'Homophobia is what Arab governments give to Islamists to keep them calm, ' one activist tells Martel. As the West progresses from the criminalization of homosexuality to the penalization of homophobia, and the 'gay American way of life' offers a global template for gay activism and culture, Martel finds that every country offers distinctly local variations. And around the world, the status of gay rights has become a measure of a country's democracy and modernity. Global Gay has been translated into seven languages and adapted into an award-winning television documentary. This English edition has been thoroughly revised and updated."--Jacket.

How Gay Culture Is Changing the World

Global Gay

Digitization is accelerating globalization tenfold. Social networks have gone mobile: telephone, television and towns have gone 'smart'. How did China manage to create clones of Google, Facebook and YouTube, and build its own censored version of the Internet? How do Arab countries use social networks for their revolutions? Why is there no minister for communications in the US, and why does no one regulate the Internet there? From Silicon Valley to Tokyo, from South Africa to southern India, and all the way to Cuba and Gaza, this unprecedented investigation in the field covers the whole battle of the Internet and its future.Drawing on hundreds of interviews in about fifty countries, Frederic Martel examines the different 'Internets' on five continents. In so doing, he reveals that we are moving not only into a connected, globalized world, but also a territorialized one. Smart shows that the Internet has never been truly global, and that it will become increasingly local.

The Digital Century

Smart

Sodoma expone la decadencia y la corrupción en el corazón del Vaticano y de la actual Iglesia Católica. Más de un millón de ejemplares vendidos en todo el mundo. Un brillante trabajo basado en cuatro años de investigación rigurosa, que incluye entrevistas a los más altos cargos eclesiásticos. Sodoma revela los secretos de un sistema que se inicia en los seminarios y continúa hasta el Vaticano; basado en la doble vida de algunos sacerdotes y en la homofobia más radical. La esquizofrenia resultante en la Iglesia es insondable. «Sodoma es la primera radiografía global de la vivencia deshonesta de la homosexualidad que estructura la vida eclesiástica en la Iglesia católica.» James Alison, escritor, sacerdote y teólogo católico «Detrás de la rigidez siempre hay algo oculto; en muchos casos, una doble vida.» Al pronunciar estas palabras, el papa Francisco nos dio a conocer un secreto que esta investigación vertiginosa revela por primera vez en toda su enorme dimensión. Sodoma es un libro con un claro mensaje al Vaticano de parte de todos los que anhelan una Iglesia inspirada en el Evangelio, una Iglesia para los pobres, los marginados y los desposeídos. Nadie puede reivindicar que realmente entienda a la actual Iglesia católica hasta que hayan leído este libro, que revela una verdad que es tan extraordinaria como perturbadora. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION The New York Times Bestseller "[An] earth-shaking exposé of clerical corruption." - National Catholic Reporter In the Closet of the Vatican exposes the rot at the heart of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church today. Now in a revised translation and with updated material, this brilliant piece of investigative writing is based on four years' authoritative research, including extensive interviews with those in power. The celibacy of priests, the condemnation of the use of contraceptives, the cover up of countless cases of sexual abuse, the resignation of Benedict XVI, misogyny among the clergy, the dramatic fall in Europe of the number of vocations to the priesthood, the plotting against Pope Francis--all these issues are clouded in mystery and secrecy. In the Closet of the Vatican is a book that reveals these secrets and penetrates this enigma. It derives from a system founded on a clerical culture of secrecy which starts in junior seminaries and continues right up to the Vatican itself. It is based on the double lives of priests and on extreme homophobia. The resulting schizophrenia in the Church is hard to fathom. But the more a prelate is homophobic, the more likely it is that he is himself gay. "Behind rigidity there is always something hidden, in many cases a double life." These are the words of Pope Francis himself and with them the Pope has unlocked the Closet. No one can claim to really understand the Catholic Church today until they have read this book. It reveals a truth that is extraordinary and disturbing.

Sodoma: Poder y escándalo en el Vaticano / In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy

A panoramic view of gay rights, gay life, and the gay experience around the world. In Global Gay, Frédéric Martel visits more than fifty countries and documents a revolution underway around the world: the globalization of LGBT rights. From Saudi Arabia to South Africa, from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, from Singapore to the United States, activists, culture warriors, and ordinary people are part of a movement. Martel interviews the proprietor of a “gay-friendly” café in Amman, Jordan; a Cuban-American television journalist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; a South African jurist who worked with Nelson Mandela to enshrine gay rights in the country's constitution; an American lawyer who worked on the campaign for marriage equality; an Egyptian man who fled his country after escaping a raid on a gay club; and many others. He tells us that in China, homosexuality is neither prohibited nor permitted, and that much Chinese gay life takes place on social media; that in Iran, because of the strict separation of the sexes, it seems almost easier to be gay than heterosexual; and that Raul Castro's daughter, a gay rights icon in Cuba, expressed her lingering anti-American sentiments by calling for Pride celebrations in May rather than June. Ten countries maintain the death penalty for homosexuals. “Homophobia is what Arab governments give to Islamists to keep them calm,” one activist tells Martel. Martel finds that although the “gay American way of life” has created a global template for gay activism and culture, each country offers distinctly local variations. And around the world, the status of gay rights has become a measure of a country's democracy and modernity. This English edition, which has been thoroughly revised and updated, has received the French Voices Award for excellence in publication and translation, supported by a grant from the French-American Book Fund.

A startlingly revealing and detailed account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican.

Frederic Martel

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