The Vatican dismissed a priest from his post in a Holy See office today
Saturday Oct. 3rd after he told a newspaper he was gay and urged the
Catholic Church to change its stance on homosexuality, Reuters reports.
Monsignor Krzystof Charamsa was removed from his position at the
Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal arm
where he had worked since 2003, a statement said.
Charamsa, 43, and a Polish theologian, announced he
was gay and had a partner in a long interview with Italy's Corriere
della Sera newspaper on Saturday.
He later held a news conference with his partner, a Spanish man, and gay
activists at a Rome restaurant.
They had planned a demonstration in front of the Vatican but changed the
venue several hours before it was due to have started.
The Vatican said Charamsa's dismissal had nothing to do with his
comments on his personal situation, which it said “merit respect”.
But it said giving the interview and the planned demonstration was
“grave and irresponsible” given their timing on the eve of a synod of
bishops who will discuss family issues, including how to reach out to
gays.
It said his actions would subject the synod, which Pope Francis is due
to open on Sunday, to “undue media pressure”.
The issue of homosexuality and the Church has dominated the aftermath of
the pope's visit to the United States last week.
In Saturday's interview, Charamsa said his partner had helped him come
to terms with his sexuality and knew he would have to give up the
priesthood, although the Vatican statement made no reference to this
outcome.
"It's time for the Church to open its eyes about gay Catholics and to
understand that the solution it proposes to them - total abstinence from
a life of love - is inhuman," he was quoted as saying.
The Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin but that
homosexual acts are.
The Vatican has been embarrassed by controversy over the pope's meeting
with Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk who went to jail in September
for refusing to honour a US Supreme Court ruling and issue same-sex
marriage licenses.
The Vatican said on Friday that “the only real audience” the pope had
during his visit to Washington was with a small group that included a
gay couple.
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