BUENOS AIRES – A former priest and LGBTQ activist who has blessed same-sex unions in Pope Francis’ home country, Argentina, is leaving the Roman Catholic Church after the Vatican issued a pronouncement this week that priests may not perform such blessings.
Andrés Gioeni delivered a letter disavowing his faith to the bishopric in a Buenos Aires suburb on Wednesday, the anniversary of his ordination as a priest in 2000 and two days after the declaration from the Holy See. “I do not want to continue being an accomplice to this institution, because I realize the harm they are doing to people.
I am not renouncing my faith in God but rather I am renouncing a role and a rite,” said Gioeni, 49. He spoke in an interview with The Associated Press at