Thursday, March 28

In Italy, a priest’s sermon on COVID vaccines sparked a strike


A parish priest was criticized after allegedly using a sermon to criticize Italy’s vaccination restrictions and the stigmatization of those without the jab.

Parishioners left Father Tarcisio Colombo’s service in Casorate Primo, a small town in the interior of Milan, on New Year’s Eve.

Witnesses told Euronews they criticized Rome’s use of a COVID pass to pressure Italians to get vaccinated and the stigmatization of the unvaccinated as “spreaders of the plague.”

Currently, Italians must show a COVID immunity certificate (“Green Pass”) to access most public spaces and a “Super Green Pass”, which only includes those who are vaccinated and have recovered from COVID-19, to dine inside. and leisure activities. Churches are exempt from the current scheme.

His words sparked outrage and 20 parishioners left in the middle of the service. One even yelled “learn to be a priest!” From the door.

“As soon as I heard him say these things, I couldn’t take it anymore,” Graziella Checchi, a 66-year-old parishioner, told Euronews. “I was one of the first to get up, but as soon as I left the church, I turned around and saw that a stream of people had joined me.”

Another parishioner and active member of the community, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed outrage to Euronews.

“By preaching against something like vaccines, which are a public duty, you are hurting your congregation,” he said.

“He brandished those of us who left as people who are ‘incapable of hearing different opinions,’ but the pulpit is a place to speak about the gospel, not politics.”

Father Colombo has refused to speak to most of the media, including Euronews, although he previously claimed that he would not publicly disclose his vaccination status.

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This has left parishioners concerned, with some even expressing that they would no longer take communion.

Meanwhile, the diocese of Milan has distanced itself from Father Colombo’s comments. Speaking to Euronews, Stefano Femminis, the head of the diocese’s press office, stated that “the Curia of Milan has published a simple decree on behalf of the Vicar General, which establishes that all persons who have a pastoral role have the duty to get vaccinated. “

The Past Controversies of Father Colombo

Father Colombo’s sermon may have particularly angered parishioners and ignited a national media frenzy, but it is not the first time he has faced vocal opposition since he became a Casorate Primo parish priest ten years ago.

On October 15, 2019, a parishioner publicly expressed disapproval of his homily and bulletin, in which he ridiculed Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Silvia de Martini, 76-year-old artist and lifelong resident of Casorate Primo, stood outside the town’s church holding a sign with the words “Don Tarcisio, a danger to everyone.”

“I protested against the shameful homily and subsequent article published by our parish priest, who dared to label Greta Thunberg’s supporters as ‘sheep’ and described her as a ‘danger’,” he told Euronews. “To begin with, I fundamentally disagreed with the way she was talking about a teenage girl. But, above all, I believe that as Christians we must take care and take care of the land that God gave us ”.

Although De Martini was not present at last Friday’s controversial mass, he lent his support to the dissidents.

“What they did was brilliant,” he exalted. “If I had been there, I would have been the first or second person to get up and leave.”

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The list of controversies attached to Father Colombo’s name is long. From his open newsletters, where he regularly publishes and copies articles denouncing LGBT + rights, progressive politicians and sex education, to his public behavior and the closure of the parish (and the city), he has been rejected by a significant part of the local community.

“To say that it is medieval would be an understatement,” de Martini lamented. “We had a thriving community here of around 500 members involved, which has been reduced to a handful of people.”

Parishioners like De Martini have regularly sent letters to the Diocese of Milan to express their disapproval.

“The Diocese should have acted a long time ago, and the former archbishop did not even recognize me,” he declared. “There have been tons of complaints.”

However, the spokesman for the diocese, Stefano Femminis, stated that “no complaints have been received” and that no disciplinary action will be taken after Father Colombo’s sermon.

Anti-vax priests fight Vatican line

COVID-19 vaccines and pandemic regulations are very popular with the Italian public: almost 90% of eligible Italians have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

However, there is vocal dissent against vaccines and the green pass, as demonstrated by violent riots in the country’s main cities last October.

This sentiment also proliferates among the Catholic clergy of Italy, resulting in a variety of public outbursts similar to those of Father Colombo.

Last December, a parish priest from the southern region of Calabria spoke out against the Green Pass plan, while in November, a priest in Sicily claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was orchestrated “by powerful people”.

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Despite this, the Vatican line has been unequivocally and consistently in favor of COVID vaccines.

“Getting vaccinated with vaccines authorized by the competent authorities is an act of love”, Pope Francis stated early last year.

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