Lavender Mafia

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The Lavender Mafia is a term coined by novelist and Catholic priest Andrew Greeley which refers to a purported underground faction within the leadership and clergy of the Roman Catholic Church that protects and advocates rights for homosexuals.^[1]^[2] The Lavender Mafia has been blamed by some members of the Church's orthodoxy as enabling or exacerbating the recent sex-abuse scandal in the United States. These critics allege that the Lavender Mafia has managed to dominate many of the Church's seminaries, and that whistleblowers are treated as criminals, while active homosexual priests are protected and promoted by their allies.

Father Donald B. Cozzens' book, 'The Changing Face of the Priesthood,' alleges that there has been "a heterosexual exodus from the priesthood" because of the unabashed gay subcultures in some seminaries, and that potential heterosexual candidates for the priesthood are intimidated from joining an institution that fosters a gay culture.