Rome's moral compromise

That the Roman Catholic church has been morally compromised by the sodomite subculture is now part of its indelible public image. However, the moral compromise doesn't begin with that.

Historically, Roman Catholicism became the state religion of Europe and (prior to the Reformation) Great Britain. To enjoy that monopoly required royal patronage. But there was a price for that. It meant the Catholic church had to be very indulgent towards the never-ending promiscuities of kings, princes, and nobles. Royal harems, royal courtesans, as well as mistresses to service aristocrats, and so on and so forth. Court preachers were privy to all that. But it's not as if they routinely denounced it from the pulpit. Had they done so, they'd rapidly fallen out of favor with the royals and nobles.  As a result, the European ruling class has never taken the moral authority of Rome seriously. That wouldn't be possible. There was always a Gentleman's agreement between the church of Rome and the sex life of the ruling class.