The Vatican reacted swiftly after a
Polish priest who served with the Vatican's doctrinal arm announced
he's gay and has a partner on the eve of a bishops' synod on the
family.
Monsignor Krysztof Olaf Charamsa held a
news conference on Saturday in Rome, where he called on Pope Francis
to revise the Catholic teaching on homosexuality.
On Sunday, Francis opened the Synod of
Bishops, a three-week assembly of bishops from around the world that
will look at issues facing Catholic families.
“My decision of 'coming out' is a
very personal decision in the homophobic world of the Catholic
Church,” Charamsa, 43, explained to reporters. “It has been very
difficult and very hard. I ask that you keep in mind this reality
that is difficult to understand for anyone who has not lived through
an identical passage in their own life.”
“The timing is not intended to
pressurize anyone, but maybe a good pressure, in fact a Christian
participation, a Christian voice that wants to bring to the synod the
response of the homosexual believers to the questioning of Pope
Francis,” he added, his partner Eduardo by his side.
He called on the church to “open your
eyes to the suffering of gay people, to their desire for love.”
In a statement, the Vatican called the
priest's action “very serious and irresponsible” and said that he
“will certainly be unable” to continue as a theologian at the
Vatican.