Priest’s coming out is a church shocker

Associated Press

MADRID, Spain – A Roman Catholic priest revealed that he is gay in a splashy interview with a gay and lesbian magazine, but the church has not decided whether to defrock him for what it considers a “moral disorder.”

Roman Catholic leaders on Friday condemned homosexuality as a sin, but said the clerical future of the Rev. Jose Mantero Garcia rests with local ecclesiastical authorities.

Mantero, a clergyman in the southern town of Valverde del Camino, went public with his sexual orientation in an interview with Zero magazine, which splashed his confession – “I give thanks to the Lord that I’m gay” – across its cover.

The middle-aged cleric said he realized he was gay at the age of 12, but chose to reveal it now “because the church has committed a grave sin in closing itself to a very important part of God’s people.”

The priest also said he learned to combine a sex life with the priesthood: “I love both things.”

He added: “I don’t regret anything of what may come.”

Homosexuality has become widely accepted in Spanish society since being severely repressed during the 1939-1975 dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco, whose regime was closely allied with the church.

Cadena SER television broadcast a lengthy interview with Mantero, saying he was the first priest in Spanish history to openly admit his homosexuality.

Pope John Paul II repeatedly has denounced homosexual acts as being “contrary to natural law.”

A spokesman for the Spanish bishops’ conference told Cadena SER that while the church “welcomes homosexuals into its bosom” and condemns anti-gay discrimination, homosexual relations are considered “a moral disorder, a sin” and a violation of the sacerdotal vow of celibacy.

“He knew that on becoming a priest, he voluntarily assumed this commitment,” Monsignor Juan Jose Asenjo said, adding that local ecclesiastical authorities should decide whether to dismiss Mantero.

The Bishop of Huelva, Monsignor Ignacio Noguer Carmona, was “unpleasantly surprised” by the priest’s statements, spokesman Jose Maria Roldan said.

However, Roldan told the national news agency Efe that the bishop would not make any decision on Mantero’s future until after meeting him personally.

“This was a surprise for everyone. We never imagined anything like this,” said the Rev. Jose Ramos Ramos, a colleague of Mantero’s in the Our Lady of the Path parish, which has about 13,000 parishioners. “As priest, he always did what he was supposed to do.”

Other Roman Catholic priests have admitted they are gay.

In August, a Jeffersonville, Ind., priest told parishioners from the pulpit that he was gay. The Rev. Raymond Schafer said there was “no reason to feel ashamed nor guilty” about his sexual orientation.

In 2000, a book published in Italy presented the testimony of an unidentified Roman Catholic priest who said a network of homosexual priests is active in the Italian church.

Gay and lesbian groups said they were not surprised by Mantero’s revelation.

“We know that homosexuality is present in the church hierarchy to a certain degree,” the Christian Association of Gays and Lesbians of Catalonia said in a statement congratulating the priest on his forthrightness.