The Unspeakable Vice
The Catholic Church and Homosexuality in the Twentieth Century

Francesco Torchiani (Author), Johanna Bishop (Translated by)

9780299356804

Hardback, published 21 April 2026

204 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.4 kg

“This is undoubtedly the best survey of Catholicism’s attitude toward homosexuality. A superb scholarly accomplishment, elegantly written and highly readable.” - Enzo Traverso, Cornell University

As gay men and lesbian women increasingly gained recognition and acceptance in twentieth-century literature and film, and subsequently in social and political movements, the Catholic Church reacted by subtly moving away from its overt condemnation of homosexuality as an urgent moral problem and toward tacitly shunning homosexuality as an “unspeakable vice.” In this revealing history, Francesco Torchiani reconstructs the Catholic Church’s shifting attitudes toward homosexuality during this period by drawing on a vast array of internal documents and external accounts. This monograph expands the scholarship on the relationship between Catholicism and homosexuality in terms of both method and content, ultimately concluding that the Catholic Church continues to wholeheartedly condemn homosexuality despite making genuine efforts to reflect on and understand its social and cultural impact. The Unspeakable Vice therefore sheds new light on and places into historical perspective the questions the Catholic Church continues to reckon with regarding its role in contemporary society.

Introduction

Part I: From Sodomy to Homosexuality
1. A Vice “
Particularly Odious to God”

2. The Sin That “
Cries for Vengeance”

3. After Kinsey
4. A Disease?

Part II: “
Intrinsically Disordered”
Acts
5. Judging for Oneself
6. Persona Humana
7. “
Morally Wrong”
Behavior
8. Christianity and Tolerance
9. The Iron Prefect
10. “
God’
s Punishment”
?
11. An Impossible Right
12. Nonnegotiable Principles

Epilogue: Francis, a Turning Point?
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index