The Roman Catholic Church showed its strong stance against homosexuality and same-sex marriage when it dismissed an openly gay priest on the eve of the bishops' synod on the family last Oct. 3, and Reverend Franklin Graham is commending the Vatican for this act.
"The Vatican fired an openly gay priest Saturday after he came out right before their meeting of the world's bishops," Graham wrote on his Facebook page." The priest said in a press conference that his coming out was a 'difficult and tough decision in the church's homophobic world.'"
The priest is a high-ranking Vatican official, USA Today reported. He is Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, 43, who has lived in Rome for the last 17 years. Charasma even revealed that he has a boyfriend and said he wanted to challenge the church's "backward" view on homosexuality.
But as far as Graham is concerned, the only one who is thinking "backward" is Charamsa himself. "I have news for everyone: Believing what God's Word says about homosexuality is not homophobic! Firing the gay priest was the right thing for the Catholic Church to do," he said.
Graham also could not believe that Charamsa felt "happy and proud" to be a gay priest since his actions go against the teachings of God. "One should not be 'happy and proud' to go against God's will, His laws, and His very design for creation," Graham stressed.
Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi said Charamsa can no longer work at the Vatican or any of its pontifical universities, though he remains a priest. Charamsa decided to reveal his homosexuality during the bishops' meeting, and Lombardi said his timing could not have been more off.
"The decision to make such a pointed statement on the eve of the opening of the synod appears very serious and irresponsible, since it aims to subject the synod assembly to undue media pressure," Lombardi said.
