Italian priest suspended for advocating gay marriage

Giulio Mignani, a priest from northern Italy, can no longer do his job as a cleric in the Roman Catholic Church. He is suspended from all clerical work because he repeatedly spoke publicly "in violation of the Church's teaching", a statement from Bishop Palletti reads.

The priest was especially outspoken about gay marriage. "If I can't bless same-sex couples, I can't bless palm and olive branches", the priest said, according to the Christian news portal Laikmetis. "Everything is blessed in the Church, not only palm trees but sometimes, unfortunately, even weapons are blessed. But the true and sincere love of two people cannot be blessed because they are homosexuals", the priest reportedly said during his 2021 Palm Sunday sermon. Magnani continued by saying that homosexual people would not lose anything when they miss a blessing of the Church, "because God will bless them. Rather, the Church loses".

After this speech, Magnani was strongly criticized by the diocese, which stated that "it is reprehensible to omit or perform a liturgical gesture in connection with a personal protest, especially if it is directed against the resolution of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which the Holy Father gave his consent to publish."

However, the opposition of the diocese did not stop Mignani, resulting in a suspension.

Martyr

Although Mignani is suspended, he is not abandoned by his parish. Italian news portal Rai News reports that several hundred people gathered in the square in front of the Church of Santa Caterina to express their support to Mignani. A large banner, "Don Giulio, new martyr of the Church, killed in his freedom", was displayed at the demonstration.

Mignani said that he would not leave the priesthood, despite his current limitations. According to him, leaving would mean that he accepted the Church's opinion. "But I will continue to manifest my thoughts."