CESENA, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — A parish priest in Italy canceled a Catholic summer camp after discovering that its director was an active homosexual.
The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reports that the parish priest of the northern town of Cesena (population c. 96,500) found out that the sole camp leader was an active homosexual through a picture of him kissing another man posted on social media.
The priest reportedly told the organizer of the summer camp that he could “certainly continue to organize the summer camp. But this being the case, you cannot be a camp leader.”
Because no other suitable instructor for the parish summer camp could be found in time, the event had to be canceled, leaving many parents disappointed, according to Corriere della Sera.
The parish priest faced backlash from local politicians and pro-LGBT activist groups for his pastoral decision.
The mayor of Cesena, Enzo Lattuca, criticized the cancellation of the summer camp, saying that “I thought the Middle Ages were behind us and that unacceptable episodes of discrimination like this were foreign to our city. Evidently, I was wrong.”
“The affair of the camp director of the summer center of a parish in Cesena, who was relieved of his duties because he is homosexual, is doubly violent,” said Gabriele Piazzoni, secretary general of the pro-LGBT activist group Arcigay.
“It is so first of all because a very young boy suffered an outing and was publicly sanctioned by the parish priest for his sexual orientation, resulting in marginalization and removal. But it is doubly so because the people in news outlets commenting on this affair focus all their attention on the cancelled summer camp and the families left without it as if it were a glitch in the welfare system. No: it is a story of hatred and violence.”
The Diocese of Cesena-Sarsina issued an ambiguous statement, saying that “the issue is very sensitive.” The diocese referenced the heterodox Synod on Synodality which is “questioning how to go about meeting people who feel excluded from the community.”
“The Church of Cesena-Sarsina is an open and welcoming home to all,” the diocese stated, according to Corriere dellaSera.
“The Diocese of Cesena-Sarsina intends to offer, considering the complexity of the affair, a clarification about what happened in a parish summer camp,” it continued. “It is sad to see the suffering caused to those directly involved … The issue is very sensitive and what happened is not about judging individuals or discriminating against rights.”
“[Currently] the Church with the Synod is considering how to go about meeting people who feel excluded from the community because of their affections and sexuality. It is a question that remains open, and the Church of Cesena-Sarsinais also walking this path. On the specific facts reported by today’s news, the Diocese clarifies that no one was prevented from organizing the summer camp. A different matter is the educational mandate to transmit Christian values. The bishop’s willingness to meet people in respect of their life choices remains firm. The Church of Cesena-Sarsina is an open and welcoming home to all.”
Contrary to the claim made by the diocese, the question of the morality of homosexual acts does not “remain open” in Catholic teaching. The Magisterium of the Church, as well Holy Scripture, has repeatedly condemned homosexual acts, called “sodomy” in the Bible. The Church even considers sodomy a “sin that cries out to heaven.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following:
Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity (Cf. Genesis 19:1-29; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Timothy 1:10), tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Persona humana, 8). They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved. (CCC 2357)
In recent years, teachers and educators employed by the Catholic Church have been let go for living openly in homosexual relationships and thus violating Catholic moral teaching.