NSFW: A promotional ad for "Subwoofer Sauna Night" at the Europa Multiclub, purchased by the Holy See and is reportedly the largest gay sauna in Europe.

Apparently, the Holy See purchased $21 million in shares of a Rome apartment block that's home to Europe’s biggest gay sauna. Cardinal Ivan Dias, head of the Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples, lives in an apartment in the palazzo, mere yards from the sauna's entrance. The Vatican owns 18 apartments total. The sauna is known for its "bear nights," in which, according to its website, “a hairy, overweight pastor of souls, is free to the music of his clergyman, remaining in a thong, because he wants to expose body and soul.”

The Independent:

It is not known, however, if the former archbishop of Bombay has popped downstairs to give spiritual guidances to the clients of the Europa Multiclub, given his belief that gays and lesbians can be cured of their “unnatural tendencies” through the “sacrement of penance”.

The sauna’s website promotes one of its special “bear nights”, with a video in which a rotund, hairy man strips down before changing into a priest’s outfit. It says Bruno, “a hairy, overweight pastor of souls, is free to the music of his clergyman, remaining in a thong, because he wants to expose body and soul”.

There was further embarrassment for the Holy See when the press observed that thanks to generous tax breaks it received from the last Berlusconi government, the church will have avoided hefty payments to the Italian state. The properties are recognised as part of the Holy City.
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Readers on Italian gay websites were quick to make jokes at the cardinals’ expense. One on the Gay.it site quipped: “’Oops, I took the wrong door, I thought it was the chapel.'…If you can’t go to the gay sauna for fear of being seen what do you do if you have millions of Euros stolen from Italians? You buy the apartment block with the sauna inside.”

The Europa Multiclub's website is here, and includes a "virtual tour" feature.

An Oregon teen was taken off life support a week after he attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself from playground equipment at an elementary school.

Jadin Bell, 15, was driven to take his own life because he was bullied for being homosexual, according to his family.

Officials at Bell's school, La Grande High School, said they were investigating reports that Jadin was being bullied at the time that he hung himself.

Hundreds of students had turned out to honor Jadin Bell, a sophomore at La Grande High School, at a vigil last week while he was still fighting for his life in the hospital.

Family friend Bud Hill believes that Jadin was pushed to suicide after being bullied, both online and in person, for being gay.

'He was different, and they tend to pick on the different ones,' Hill told KOMO News.

Jadin was afraid to turn in the bullies...afraid that it would only make the situation worse. He had asked his parents to homeschool him.

'If someone was down and out he would walk into a room and say a couple quick words and everybody would just forget about their problems and smile,' Hill added. 'He just had a gift.'

"Jadin is one of the best people I have ever met," LHS junior Frankie Benitez told the La Grande Observer. "He makes everyone around him feel good all the time."

A close family friend, Jody Bullock runs an adult assisted living home for seniors said that Jadin came over frequently and always made a point of saying hello to her residents and talking with them. Bullock said it is unusual for young people to do this, noting that often young people are afraid of seniors.

“He is an amazing young man who is smart and very social,” Bullock said. “He has a persona and a presence that you want to be a part of,” she said.

“We always knew that Jadin is a special person," said Jadin's mother, Lola Lathrop, "Now everyone knows.”

After the jump, some helpful resources for young people contemplating suicide, their parents, and educators.

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