Women in love with priests ask pope to make celibacy optional

By Philip Pullella

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Twenty-six women who say they are in love with Roman Catholic priests have written to Pope Francis urging him to make celibacy optional.

The women, who all live in Italy, described the "devastating suffering" caused by the church's ban on priests having sex and marrying.

"We love these men and they love us," they said in their letter published on the authoritative website Vatican Insider.

"With humility, we place at your feet our suffering so that something can change, not just for us but for the good of the whole Church," they added in the message, signed with their first names and an initial of their last names, but with several phone numbers.



The women asked the pope to "bless our love," adding that few people could understand the "devastating suffering lived by a woman who has a strong love for a priest".


But the women told the pope that their men would be able to serve the Church "with greater passion" if they were supported by a woman who loves them and children.

This was far better for the priests and the Church, they argued in the letter sent to the Vatican, than "a life of continued clandestineness, with the frustration of a love that is not complete".

The women asked to meet the pope to explain the plight "tearing apart our souls" because the couples were faced with the alternatives of either the men leaving the priesthood or carrying on the relationships in secret.




(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Andrew Heavens)