CNA Staff, Jul 21, 2020 / 11:47 am
A priest has resigned as a parish pastor after he performed a same-sex civil union ceremony in the town hall of the Italian town of Sant'Oreste. The priest is not expected to return to ministry for at least a year.
On July 11, Fr. Emanuel Moscatelli officiated at a ceremony in which two women, friends of the priest, contracted a civil union, in a ceremony described in the Italian media as a wedding.
The priest did not wear liturgical vestments, wearing instead a red, white, and green ceremonial sash, often worn by mayors and other Italian civic officials when conducting government business. Moscatelli was delegated by Valentina Pina, the town's mayor, to perform the ceremony.
News of the ceremony was first reported by Italian news agency ADN Kronos July 20. On the same day, Bishop Romano Rossi of Civita announced that the priest had resigned as pastor of St. Lorenzo's Parish in Sant'Oreste, of his own free will.