Archbishop begins canonical proceedings against priest promoting same-sex 'marriage'

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jul 14, 2010 / 12:04 pm

AICA, a Catholic news source in Argentina, reported this week that Archbishop Carlos Jose Nanez of Cordoba has begun canonical proceedings against an Argentinean priest for refusing to retract the statements he publicly made supporting same-sex “marriage.”

Fr. Jose Nicolas Alessio received an enormous amount of media attention for his statements supporting gay “marriage” while he was pastor of St. Cajetan’s in the city of Cordoba.

According to AICA, the priest has continued to make statements to the media in support of same-sex “marriage.” “As a cautionary measure, the archbishop has prohibited him from the public exercising of the priestly ministry, which means he cannot celebrate Mass or administer the sacraments of the Church publicly, and therefore, cannot continue as pastor,” the news service reported.

In his statement, Archbishop Nanez noted that, he has “exhausted all possible pastoral means to get Father Jose Nicolas Alessio to amend his ways and retract his statements” in support of same-sex “marriage.”  The archbishop explained that since the priest has “denied every opportunity to modify his actions, I have decided to initiate canonical proceedings under the inter-diocesan Tribunal of Cordoba so that all action will take place according to current ecclesial law.”