“I fell in love with a woman.” Don Antonio confesses and leaves the Church

Don Antonio and his confession: “I love a woman, celibacy is not for me”

Don Antonio Romano he decided to come out and confess. “After a long friendship I understood love a woman“. A parish priest from Chiusano San Domenico in the province of Avellino he made a difficult decision, that of abandoning clerical life. The priest, 57 years old, 32 of which in a canvas suit, announced his choice through a post on social media, and the Catholic community was divided. Between those who agree and those who really don't accept such a decision. “With this woman – writes Don Antonio – I share feelingsaspirations, projects, values, faith, principles and ideals. We can't do without each other and I can no longer fight against my nature.”

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The post by the now former parish priest – we read in Il Corriere della Sera – has gone viral. There are those who share the gesture, complimenting “il courage to have chosen happiness“, those who hope that Don Antonio's decision “can be an example for those priests who live in uncertainty” and those who hope that this story becomes “a warning for the upper levels of the Church”. But there are also those who clearly says not having respected the priesthood. Don Antonio responded by explaining that “with time we mature and acquire greater awareness and I – he said – I realized that celibacy is not for me“. Don Antonio, during the Covid pandemic, had also taken a position on the vaccines and this had also guaranteed him hosting on TV, it was considered one of the best-known faces of the Italian anti-vax galaxy.