UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Italian priest calls for gay pope

|
 
Published: March. 7, 2013 at 8:06 AM

GENOA, Italy, March 7 (UPI) -- An outspoken LGBT rights advocate and Italian Catholic priest Don Andrea Gallo said the church needs a gay pope.

"A homosexual pope would be a magnificent thing. The essence of the Gospel is that we are all God's sons and daughters and we are all equal as God's children," Gallo said Wednesday.

The Italian news agency ANSA said Gallo is the founder of Genoa's drug rehab community, has defended the rights of gays and homosexuals and also smoked marijuana in city hall to protest against drug laws.

Gallo said the homosexual priest must be able to express himself and the Church must not repress him, ANSA reported.

"Because repression leads to pedophilia," Gallo said, adding that as a young priest he was sexually abused.

The comments come on the same day that a survey was released that indicates 75 percent of readers of an Asian Catholic website Ucanews.com believe pedophilia is the Catholic Church's largest problem, ANSA reported.

Topics: Marijuana
Recommended Stories
© 2013 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Additional World News Stories
1 of 14
The 2013 Billboard Music Awards
View Caption
Singer Miley Cyrus arrives at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 19, 2013. UPI/Jim Ruymen
fark
Having to calm down the teller is sign No. 1 that your bank robbery is going badly
Chicken and ale theft. It's your Mugshot Roundup in the 1870s
The twelve most significant moments in the history of pizza. Missing from the list: the advent of...
The pope goes to Church to catch up on sleep, just like every other Catholic
Pro tip: If you're going to butt-dial someone, make sure it's not 9-1-1 while you are breaking into...
Photo of monster sized hailstones that fell out of the sky in Oklahoma City today