Gay priest first to come out in Spain

[tyche]

From the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Artic ... 39,00.html

quote:

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Gay priest first to come out in Spain
Monday February 4, 2002

A Roman Catholic priest has shocked Spain and risked punishment from his superiors by becoming the first member of the country's clergy to come out as a practising homosexual.

"I give thanks to God for being gay," Father Jose Mantero, a parish priest in the town of Valverde, southern Spain, declared on the front cover of the gay magazine Zero.

Fr Mantero, who was pictured wearing his dog collar, an earring in his left ear and a studded leather bracelet, admitted that he faced being defrocked or sent to an obscure mission in Latin America.

But the 39-year-old priest said it was time the Roman Catholic church in Spain came to terms with the fact that many of its members were gay.

"I suffered a lot to begin with but now I have no trouble living with it," he said.

Fr Mantero said he discovered he was gay when he fell in love with a man eight years ago. He stuck to his vows of chastity, however, until two years ago.

He said that although he was liable to be disciplined and possibly expelled from the clergy he would fight to remain a priest. "I feel very happy in the church and love it. I want to fight for change from within," he said.

"The normal thing is to keep your mouth shut and deny your own personality. They want to deny the very fact of homosexuality and that there are gays within our ranks," he added.

Fr Mantero is a popular but unconventional parish priest who has changed the words of the wedding service to refer to "a couple" rather than "man and wife".

Spain's Roman Catholic church did not say yesterday whether it would act against Fr Mantero, but the secretary of the Spanish Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Juan Jose Asenio, said priests were meant to remain celibate. "That is something he knew when he became a priest," he said.

Monsignor Asenio said it would be up to the diocesan bishop to decide Fr Mantero's fate.

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quote:

[Pixie-Muso]

Hmmm... I find this interesting. I've always held a good rapport with all the priests I've encountered. I'm also an altar server 2 out of every 3 Sundays at church. Yes, I'm one of those people who attends Mass once a week. My current parish priest is a lovely man. We get along really well, we tell jokes, we talk about what he's upto, and how I'm going with school... but I've always wondered how he'd feel if he found out about my sexuality. It's kinda a scary thought.

I think that the Church does need to come to terms with the fact that it has homosexual members of the faith. I mean, I've been a lay 'servant' of the church for more than 6 years... is there any way I could ever come out to my parish members? ( I doubt that I would, but anyway) I guess that one thing that I would agree with the Church with if they did expell Fr Mantero for is if he is still sleeping with his gay partner (which I'm guessing he is comsidering it was stated that he is a 'practising' gay priest)... well, if he is still with this person I would find it understandable. I mean, if he were to be openly gay and single that would be with in the boundaries of the Holy Orders (though he broke that by not staying celebate - but that could be ammended). Like it was stated though, he knew that he was to stay celebate when he first became a priest. So, it'll be interesting to see what happens.

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"...the hardest thing in this world is to live in it..."
~Buffy, The Gift.

[Eyes Without A Face]

I agree. Until the Church allows priests to get married, it should not matter that he is attracted to males as long as he keeps his vow of chastity. Here is the official position on clerical celibacy, including historical perspective and justification.

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Wallpapers
Illegitimi non carborundum!

[This message has been edited by Eyes Without A Face (edited February 06, 2002).]

[Twisted Rabbit]

There was a three page long article in the Sunday edition of the Spanish newspaper "El Mundo" (this newspaper has always paid a lot of (positive) attention to gay people) about José Mantero.

You can find out more about him on the site of El Mundo:
http://www.el-mundo.es
here's a direct link to one of the many articles about him:
http://www.elmundo.es/2002/02/03/cronic ... 2_imp.html

Actually this case reminds me a lot of what happened to Rudy Borremans , a priest who came out a few years ago. He was sanctioned and he couldn't be an "official" priest in a church anymore. Together with Norbert Bethune( not a gay, but a married priest) he founded the Belgian version of "Rent a priest". www.rentapriest.com www.rentapriest.cjb.net