Pope – to the gay man expelled from seminary: Go forward with your vocation
The Pope. Photo: rbc
Pope Francis urged a gay man expelled from a Catholic seminary for his homosexual orientation to forge ahead with his vocation.
According to the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, 22-year-old Lorenzo Michele Noè Caruso received a letter from Francis in response to an email Caruso sent to the pontiff regarding Francis' reported use of the vulgarism "frociaggine" ("f–ggotry" – Ed.) in reference to homosexuals in seminaries.
"Thank you very much for your letter," wrote Pope Francis personally, stressing that he was "struck by an expression of yours: ‘Toxic and elective clericalism’: and it is true! Do you know that clericalism is a plague?”
"Jesus calls everyone, everyone," the letter continues. "Some people think of the Church as a customs office, and that is bad. The Church must be open to everyone. Brother, go forward with your vocation," the Pope wrote.
In the publication lifesitenews.com, it is argued that "Francis affirmed the homosexual man in his attempt to receive Holy Orders in explicit violation of Catholic teaching while also failing to call him to repentance and chastity."
Caruso told Il Messaggero that Francis's "beautiful reply… makes it clear who the real Pope is, he is not what they made him out to be.”
"This letter gives me hope, now the seminary remains a dream not shelved," he added. The young man said that he was dismissed from the seminary when his “sexuality” was discovered.
According to Caruso, the letter he received from Francis has “heartened” him and other so-called “gay Catholics”.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that during a closed meeting with Italian bishops who had come to Rome for the General Assembly, Pope Francis stated that "there are too many 'faggots' in our seminaries."
Read also
OCU explains why beggars are driven away from St. Michael’s Cathedral
A cleric of Dumenko’s structure admitted that beggars are not tolerated at the OCU’s main monastery because of their “high incomes” and the desire not to damage the site’s image before foreign tourists.
UOC Chancellor: Venerable Anthony founded a monastery, not a reserve
Metropolitan Anthony said that the attempt to turn the Lavra into a state preserve is, in essence, an attempt to lock living Orthodoxy behind a door.
Dumenko discusses countering hostile influence in spiritual life with PO head
The heads of the OCU and the Presidential Office touched on state-church relations and “spiritual security” in wartime.
Albanian Primate speaks about ways to resolve OCU problem
Archbishop John is convinced: disagreements between Moscow and Constantinople can only be overcome through love and dialogue, but not through choosing "sides".
National Memory Institute and SBU open exhibition on UGCC liquidation
An exhibition on the repression of the Uniates has opened in the capital, while state officials search for historical parallels with the present day.
OCU "priest" “allows” parishioners to use priest’s cassock for sex games
Ruslan Usmedinsky said that using a priest’s cassock as a prop for role-playing games can strengthen relationships between couples.