A priest who openly professed his love for a parishioner has been defrocked by the Italian Catholic Church despite an overwhelming show of support from his congregation, press reports said on Tuesday.
Padua Bishop Antonio Mattiazzo issued a decree on Monday forbidding Don Sante Sguotti to hear confession in Monterosso, near the northern city of Padua, and replaced him with another priest.
But the daily La Repubblica reported that “only four faithful, all elderly women, attended mass celebrated by the new priest on Monday evening, a sign of Monterosso’s solidarity with the rebel priest”.
Young people in the town have even had T-shirts made with the inscription “We are all children of Don Sante,” alluding to a rumour that the priest had a child with the parishioner, who is reportedly separated from her husband.
“I don’t know yet what I’ll do,” Sguotti told La Repubblica. “As always, it’s a decision that I will take with the help of my brothers and sisters of Monterosso.”
The affair has shaken up the church community since the middle of the year, when Sguotti held a “referendum” asking parishioners their opinion, the daily La Stampa reported.
Only 16 of the 200 people who responded wanted Sguotti to leave, the report said. — AFP