A church in Italy is under fire after it featured a nativity with a second woman — in place of Joseph, alongside the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus.
The Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Capocastello di Mercogliano faced a barrage of complaints after Father Vitaliano Della Sala installed a “more inclusive” nativity in his church.
“I wanted to show with this scene that families are no longer just the traditional ones,” Della Sala told Reuters.
“In our parishes we see more and more children from the new types of families that exist and are part of our society, children of separated and divorced people, gay couples, single people, young mothers,” he added.
Priest in Italy creates a same-sex nativity scene. Replaces St. Joseph with another woman, who is shrouded in LGBT colours.
— Timeless Faith ✠ (@timelessfaithh) December 24, 2023
Over to you Holy Father. pic.twitter.com/1LuXnhxET6
Responding to the backlash, the priest referred people to Pope Francis’ who recently allowed Clergy to bless same-sex couples.
The LGBT nativity scene, which featured Mary draped in rainbow colors, sparked an online petition for its removal.
The petition was started by Pro-Vita & Famiglia, a pro-life group, which called on the church to have same-sex nativity taken down.
The petition read:
“An LGBT nativity scene with ‘two mothers’ was set up in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Capocastello di Mercogliano, in the province of Avellino.”
“A blasphemous and provocative representation that distorts the meaning of the Nativity scene itself and of the Holy Family: both with the removal of Saint Joseph, sacrificed on the altar of political correctness, and with the very serious message relating to the ‘two mothers’ which ‘sanctifies’ a practice as illegal as the buying and selling of gametes.”
The group reached its goal of 5,000 signatures, sitting at 24,610.
Senator Maurizio Gasparri of the co-ruling Forza Italia party blasted the church, saying the LGBT nativity scene “offends all those who always had respect and devotion for the Holy Family.”
The pro-life group called it “dangerous, as well as shameful and blasphemous,” Reuters noted.
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