Lovers Call on Pope to Abolish Celibacy Rule For Priests
Once again, women have had enough of outdated rules, and have decided to take matters into their own hands.
Joining other voices for change, 39 Italian women who have had relationships with priests or monks have written an open letter to Pope Benedict, calling on him to abolish the traditional vow of celibacy, which has wreaked havoc on the lives of nuns, priests, and parishioners for centuries, the GlobalPost reports.
The letter came in response to the Pope’s recent assertions that celibacy is the way to go, even though many priests are obviously trying to get laid however they can, through consensual or non-consensual sex, with adults or with children.
The women argue:
Ours is a voice that can no longer continue to be ignored, from the moment we heard the reaffirmation of the sacredness of what is not sacred in the least, of a law that is being maintained without addressing the fundamental rights of people. The contempt with which they have attempted for centuries and in recent statements to silence the cry of men and women who have suffered in the already tattered shroud of mandatory celibacy hurts us.
From rentapriest.blogspot.com via clp.ly
They describe the agonies and painful choices that both they and their lovers face, and plead for understanding from the Pope (though why they think he might listen is unclear).
The women, who have largely remained anonymous in order to protect themselves, their families, and their lovers, also assert:
...The priest, like any human being, needs to live with his fellow beings, to have feelings, to love and be loved and to face the other deeply, something which he is hardly willing to do for fear of being exposed to danger. Behind the curtain of what is said and unsaid, that is what we are experiencing. And it's as if the church system, with its rules, manages to imprison the healthiest part of us all.
From rentapriest.blogspot.com via clp.ly
Though the women are clearly ready to stick up for their lovers, the priests do not always reciprocate. Stefania Salomone, who lives in Rome and was one of the few letter signatories who chose not to be anonymous, told the GlobalPost:
Most of them are not ready to give up their life as priests for a woman. They want to have it both ways. ... There is never a happy ending.
From www.globalpost.com via clp.ly
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