he Vatican DOES give a damn ... and this is no bodice-ripper novel. A controversial book with the unlikely title "Gone with the Wind in the Vatican" is causing a stir inside Italian political and ecclesiastic circles thanks to its allegations of corruption, sex and debauchery within the Roman Catholic Church. So far, Vatican officials have failed in efforts to have the book removed from shelves, or discipline its 72-year old author, Monsignor Luigi Marinelli. A retired priest, Marinelli has already been summoned before a church tribunal, the "Roman Rota," for disciplinary proceedings, but has refused the invitation. He told BBC news, "A healthy and holy church is not afraid of the truth, even if that truth is uncomfortable."

    "Gone With the Wind in the Vatican" has been described as a "steamy" account of cronyism and corruption which Marinelli says is rampant throughout the church bureaucracy. The 288-page tome presents an "insiders" view of some of the most confidential recesses of the Vatican. Church officials say that Marinelli is creating a fiction because he is bitter over not obtaining a promotion within the ranks. He worked for the Vatican's Congregation for Eastern Churches, a post which even critics admit could have given him access to sensitive information.

    Marinelli and his publisher have given the characters in "Gone With the Wind" pseudonyms, but Vatican watchers say that the principals are easy to identify. Among them is Martinelli's former boss, Cardinal Achille Silvestrini. The book is filled with anecdotal tales, including descriptions of church officials who abuse youngsters, or attempt to cross national borders while carrying suitcases filled with currency. The book also raises questions about the mysterious death of Pope John Paul I, who some say planned to radically alter the church's teachings on birth control and abortion.

    When it was released in February, the book attracted little initial attention. Sales took off, though, when the Vatican issued a summons for Marinelli, and demanded that the book be withdrawn from circulation and that no translations of the manuscript be published. Marinelli told Italian state television, though, that he "didn't want to blow the matter up any further," adding that the Vatican edict was "mistaken in method and merit" because it ignored his rights under Canon law to discuss the matter first with superiors.

    Since then, "Gone With the Wind in the Vatican" has sold over 100,000 copies. Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper adds, "The Vatican's reaction has merely fueled demand" for copies. The publisher has already sold out the initial press run, and the book is going into further editions. Foreign language runs are expected this fall.

    How accurate are Marinelli's colorful claims? While resorting to the usual heavy-handed pressure on the retired priest, Vatican spin doctors are attempting to minimize the charges which appear in the book. A Monsignor inside the Vatican bureaucracy told BBC that the book consisted of "scandal-mongering" and described Marinelli as "a person who is so overcome with rancor and anger that he sometimes ... his mind is obscured." Marco Tusati, who covers the Holy See for the Italian newspaper La Stampa mused: "There are scandals and maybe they are like everywhere else..."

    Marinelli is identified on the cover of "Gone With the Wind In the Vatican" ("Via Col Vento in Vaticano," Kaos Edtizioni, Milan) as "I Milenari," the Millenarians. The term is also an anagram of "Marinelli." The author admits to writing some of the material, but says that others -- as many as "nine or ten co-authors" -- contributed their own accounts to the book as well. Along with stories of intrigue and financial corruption, there are other tantalizing -- even gossipy, tabloid-style accounts.

   ¶    One monsignor kept the company of "handsome young men" in his Vatican office late at night, telling associates he was there "to do urgent work."

   ¶    One Vatican official identified as "an elderly priest" became known in Rome's financial and political circles as "Father Christmas" for his gift-giving. He received the title of Bishop at age 72, then "squandered millions" by mortgaging diocesan property under his fiduciary control. "When he died, it was discovered that he had passed them (the properties) to his natural son, who had never stopped blackmailing him."

   ¶    A Vatican bishop is discovered by Rome police late at night "while cavorting with another man near-naked in an automobile."

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