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Priest denounced for breaking chastity vow and for living a homosexual life maintains stance that the Catholic Church is too conservative

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'I prayed for years for God to take away this illness'

When Krzysztof Charamsa stood by his boyfriend's side and admitted he was gay before God and the world, he opened the door to severe scrutiny, lost his Vatican priest position and has been denounced for violating both his vow of chastity and the Church's teachings on homosexuality.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Many in the homosexual community praise Charamsa as a brave man who has opened the normally taboo topic of homophobia within the clergy of the Catholic Church, but several thousand more have denounced the hypocritical priest for turning from his vows.

"I've come out of the closet and I'm not going back." Charamsa claimed after admitting he remains ordained. He released a statement claiming his bishop offered Charamsa his priestly position should he repent, but Charamsa has no plans of accepting.

Since he lost his position, Charamsa has been living in a Barcelona apartment with his Spanish boyfriend Eduardo. He has refused to share when or where he met Eduardo and remains guarded about his childhood and life as a gay priest. Rather than delving into the details of his personal life, Charamsa has been focusing on what he calls homophobia within the Catholic Church.

Charamsa admitted he began his career as an altar boy and rose to join the priesthood, which in Poland allowed gay men to remain unmarried and maintain a measure of social standing. Though homosexuality is a sin, Charamsa claims his call to become a priest was genuine.

Ignoring the fact that he has turned against his vow of chastity and pledge to follow the laws of the Catholic Church, Charamsa has claimed that the Church is hypocritical, homophobic and is responsible for the prejudices members of the Catholic gay community are subjected to.

"I prayed for years for God to take away this illness," he claimed, but admitted he will no longer attempt to turn from his orientation. 

Charamsa claimed there are unofficial, but regular social meetings for gay priests in Italy, including some men from the Vatican, though he also claimed he did not attend such congregations. Instead, he kept quiet about his struggle and observed homophobia at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In July 2013, when Pope Francis famously said, "Who am I to judge?" concerning gay priests, Charamsa admitted there was an uproar within the Congregation. Now, Charamsa is calling the public to protest the Church's rigidity. He feels that the fault lies with the Church, not his sexual orientation, and has been active in the media. He is also currently working on a book and has written a letter to Pope Francis, deriding the church for its "diabolical instruction."

Though some members of the gay community applaud Charamsa's actions, many gay Catholics are angry, claiming the small gains for the Catholic Church to accept their lifestyles have been threatened.

Andrea Rubera, the spokesman for an Italian gay group advocating for a gentle approach for change in the church, described the group's concerns following Charamsa's reveal. "Our fear now is that his coming out, and the way he came out, will build a wall, not a bridge."

In response to gay Catholic concerns, Charamsa claims softer advocating through less confrontational methods have failed to produce results and would rather boldly challenge the Church. 

The Church maintains that people with same-sex attractions are to refrain from acting on them, turning instead to prayer and fasting, and if needed, to seek the counseling of the Church. Priests, in particular are to refrain from all sexual activity, and should engage in prayer and fasting if needed. The Church's opposition is focused on the deed rather than the person, whom it will always love, and this is the point that Charamsa deliberately chooses to ignore. 

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