Italian priest suspended for pro-LGBTQ stance

Italian priest suspended

A bishop has suspended a parish priest in a small Southern Italian town after the cleric continually rejected Catholic Church teaching by promoting same-sex blessings, abortion and euthanasia.

The Rev Giulio Mignani (pictured), 52, has been barred from celebrating Mass and the sacraments after vocally advocating for welcoming LGBTQ individuals into the church.

“The Church doesn’t condemn homosexuality but homosexual relations. Which is like saying that it’s ok to be hungry, but you can’t eat,” Mignani told Vanity Fair Italy in an article published on Wednesday.

“I mean, it’s a paradigm that must be changed,” he continued. “Homosexual love is still considered a sin, a mistake, when it’s a fundamental aspect in the life of these people.”

Bishop Luigi Ernesto Palletti of the northern Italian Diocese of Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato issued his decree against Father Giulio Mignani on Oct 3.

Palletti’s statement referenced Mignani’s repeated “public utterances not in conformity” with the Church’s Magisterium, which had led to his incurring the latae sententiae suspension from public ministry.

The statement further noted that Mignani had not heeded warnings from his bishop, and had continued his public opposition to Catholic teaching.

Mignani’s public heterodoxy became widely known in spring 2021 when he refused to bless palms on Palm Sunday. This was an act of protest against the Vatican’s March 15 affirmation of Church teaching regarding the prohibition of blessings for same-sex couples.

“If I can’t bless same-sex couples, then I don’t bless palm trees and olive branches either,” Mignani said.

Speaking to Vanity Fair Italy after receiving his notice of suspension, Mignani said that he had already received a rebuke from Bishop Palletti for supporting abortion and euthanasia. The Church’s prohibition of these “is now dated,” he said.

“To quote a parable of Jesus, today we do not have a lost sheep and the other 99 in the enclosure, but the opposite. People realize that these are outdated things,” said Mignani, arguing for a change in Catholic teaching.

“I have a dream: that one day the acceptance of homosexual love would be said by a Pope,” Mignani declared. “How powerful would it be?”

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