Vatican fires gay priest on eve of Catholic bishops meeting

[riversedge]

Source: usatoday.com



Vatican fires gay priest on eve of Catholic bishops meeting
Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY 1:47 p.m. EDT October 3, 2015





AP VATICAN GAY PRIEST I ITA
(Photo: Alessandra Tarantino, AP)


The Vatican fired a priest Saturday after he came out as gay and revealed he has a boyfriend on the eve of an important meeting of the world's bishops to discuss church teachings on family life, a topic that encompasses divorce, homosexuality and cohabitation.

Considered a high-ranking Vatican official, Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, 43, lived in Rome for the last 17 years and worked at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2003.

In several interviews, Charamsa said he was happy and proud to be a gay priest, and was in love with a man whom he identified as his boyfriend, according to the Associated Press. He said he wanted to challenge the church's "backwards" attitude to homosexuality, the BBC reported.

"It's time the church opened its eyes and realized that offering gay believers total abstinence from a life of love is inhuman," he said, according to the network.

Charamsa also said he knew he would have to give up his ministry but felt he had a duty toward sexual minorities to come out, BBC reported..................

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/10/03/vatican-fires-gay-priest-eve-catholic-synod-meeting/73278004/

[hedgehog]

1. It's not the crime, it's the lack of a cover-up.

[TexasProgresive]

2. Terminated from his Vatican post

but not defrocked. That's interesting.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I thought priests weren't supposed to have either boyfriends or girfriends.

So was he fired because he's gay or because he has an intimate relationship?

[melm00se]

5. excellent question/observation n/t

[PatrynXX]

7. well that might be the issue

that he has a partner male or female is the problem here. Now why priests must be celibate I don't know why

[alcina]

9. Back when priests could marry

The practice of priestly celibacy began to spread in the Western Church in the early Middle Ages. In the early 11th century Pope Benedict VIII responded to the decline in priestly morality by issuing a rule prohibiting the children of priests from inheriting property. A few decades later Pope Gregory VII issued a decree against clerical marriages.

Worth noting that the Vatican could actually change the marriage rule if it wanted.

http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/696

[graegoyle]

11. I am recalling...

...that the celibacy was instated because people asked for blessings (on the crops or births, et cetera) and the priests asked for sexual favors from daughters. The church did nothing until the people got sick of that, stopped attending church and stopped the tithing, which impacted church finances.

But I could be very much mistaken.

[Elmergantry]

14. Yes the ule could change.

Actually while Roman Rite Catholic Priests cant get married, Byzantine Rite Catholic Priests can get married prior to ordination.

[Puzzledtraveller]

8. It's a no win situation.

He should become a Episcopal priest, we are looking for a new pastor at our church.

[RKP5637]

10. K&R!!! n/t

[trillion]

13. He was fired because the same sex he's messing with is an adult, not a child.

[MADem]

4. I think they need to dispense with the vow of celibacy entirely. It's not just about 'gay priests'

--they need to let priests marry, or date, or what-have-you. They need to stay out of that part of their lives.

Right now, that guy won't be a gay Catholic priest for long--he will be laicized against his will. He can probably keep on in the profession with some of the more liberal liturgical religions, if he'd like.

If "Father Cutie" (and I am not actually snarking when I say that name) can do it, why can't he? Padre Alberto is enjoying his new life just fine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Cuti%C3%A9

I knew a guy who was once a Catholic priest. He was a Jesuit, too. His uncle left him a fine inheritance and the Jesuits wanted it. He told them to shove it, left the church, found a girlfriend, got married and went to live in a beach house. Haven't seen him in years, I would like to think he lived happily ever after!

[Martak Sarno]

6. Celibacy or Chastity?

I had a friend in the 60s who was going to become a priest. He and some others were kicked out before being ordained as they were caught with some women by an outsider, not one of the priests.

He told us that while priests take vows of celibacy voluntarily they are not required to take vows of chastity. He further told us that in some parishes, women could be provided for priests if they requested it.

Never got any confirmation of it but he never lied to us before.

Just thought it was interesting.

[Lychee2]

16. Celibacy for Catholics requires chastity.

Church teaching reserves sexual activity to marriage, so celibacy also requires abstinence.

[trillion]

12. Come on, there are gay bishops all over the place - good ones. But they aren't molesting boys so we

get a complete double standard.

[davidpdx]

15. They fired the wrong person

Instead that rat bastard that set up the meeting with Davis should have his head on a platter.