Italian priest’s exit for wife, unborn child renews celibacy debate

Italian priest’s exit for wife, unborn child renews celibacy debate

ALBA (ITALY)
Crux [Denver CO]

September 2, 2024

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A Slovakian priest who’s spent the last twenty years in Italy has announced that he’s leaving the priesthood in order to marry a woman with whom he said he’s “madly” in love, and with whom he’s expecting a child who’s been diagnosed with a serious heart condition.

The decision, which was announced Sunday by Bishop Marco Brunetti of the northern Italian diocese of Alba, who praised the “great transparency and sense of responsibility” of 44-year-old Father Tomas Hlavaty, who will now be formally removed from the priesthood and returned to the lay state.

The case has renewed debate over priestly celibacy, in part because, by all accounts, Hlavaty was a popular pastor whose departure has been publicly lamented by Catholics in the six small towns he served, including the mayor of one of those communities.

In an interview with La Repubblica, Italy’s most widely read daily newspaper, Hlavaty described the circumstances…