A priest surprised his parishioners in full mass: “I am in love and I leave my cassock”

The words of Italian priest Riccardo Ceccobelli fell like a bomb in the middle of Sunday mass in the small town of Massa Martana, in the heart of Italy: “I am in love and I leave the cassock”.

“I can’t help but stay consistent, transparent and correct as I always have been until now. But my heart is in love. I want to try to live this love ”, explained Ceccobelli, according to the Italian newspaper. Corriere della Sera.

“I never wanted to betray the promises I made, but I want to give myself the opportunity to follow my feelings,” added Ceccobelli, who acknowledged that making the decision was difficult because “he loves and respects the ‘Church”.

The 42-year-old priest made the announcement to Bishop Gualtiero Sigismondi, who expressed all his “gratitude for the service rendered so far”, and addressed him “the most sincere wishes that this election, made in all freedom as he himself says, may I guarantee you peace and serenity ”.

// Daiana and Jackson married without knowing each other: after nine months he arrived from the United States for the big date

Rumors circulating in the city about the priest

According to Corriere della SeraThe news did not surprise all the 3,757 inhabitants of Massa Martana: rumors that the priest had a love affair were already circulating in the city and some claim to have seen Don Riccardo walking with a woman.

The italian priest he has already been suspended from his service and the relevant procedures have been initiated to return it to the secular state, according to local media.

The news also caused surprise in the family, very convinced. His mother, Mirella, explained that “she had prayed that her son would become a priest.”

“Riccardo has a good character. As a young man, I had dated a woman before, maybe more, but I was not surprised when she told me that she wanted to be a priest. He’s like that, he’s sincere, ”he said.

// Love in a pandemic: what the coronavirus has taught couples

Meanwhile, one of his cousins ​​assured that the whole family did not understand that he had started to study theology and become a religious: “He was considered a handsome boy, who worked as a factory worker and who would perhaps have liked to see a family ”. However, a priest invited him to visit Albania at a time when he was going through a delicate moment and that changed everything. It was there that he had his conversion. “I have seen absolute poverty, I cannot complain about everything and that there are people who have nothing,” he declared on his return.

His cousin also claims that Riccardo is much loved in the city and that “if it depended on him, he would continue to be a priest”. “He didn’t care about this life. He just fell in love, ”he concluded.