A long-serving Vatican priest who was recently defrocked for coming out has written an incendiary letter to Pope Francis condemning the Church for its treatment of LGBT people.

Monsignore Krzysztof Charamsa, who provided a copy of his letter to the BBC, has accused the Roman Catholic Church of making the lives of LGBTIQ Catholics “hell”.

The 43-year-old announced he was in a relationship with another man on the eve of the synod on the family, where senior members of the Church discuss their stance on family issues. Senior Vatican officials condemned Mr Charamsa for placing the synod under “undue media pressure.”

The former priest has called the Church hypocritical for their decision to ban gay priests, as he says many existing members of the clergy are homosexual.

Charamsa wrote that he has decided to “publicly reject the violence of the Church towards homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and intersexual people” after a “long and tormented period of discernment and prayer.”

The Polish former priest said he will no longer suffer the “homophobic hate of the Church, the exclusion, the marginalisation and the stigmatisation of people like me”, saying that LGBT members of the Church’s “human rights are denied.”

Charamsa has called upon his LGBTIQ colleagues to leave the “frequently violently homophobic” Church.

“All gay cardinals, gay bishops and gay priests… have the courage to abandon this insensitive, unfair and brutal Church.”

The family synod, which ended last Sunday has announced no changes to their stance on LGBTIQ Catholics. The Church has reasserted that gay members of the faith should be accepted with respect and dignity.

The synod also voted to amend their teachings, saying that it is unacceptable to attempt to pressure local churches for their stance on homosexual unions, or for organisations to give financial assistance based on same sex marriage laws.

OIP Staff