CHIAVARI, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic diocese in Italy has released a pamphlet of various “Christian testimonies” that included two homosexual couples and one civilly remarried couple.
On December 4, the Family Pastoral Service of the Diocese of Chiavari, Italy, directed by Father Marco Torre, published the pamphlet “There Is No Greater Love.” It includes autobiographical testimonies presented as “exemplary,” without additional doctrinal notes or commentary. There were no official statements about the pamphlet from Giampio Devasini, bishop of Chiavari, at the time of its publication.
“The ultimate goal of our work is to break down those walls of division that have always hindered the active participation of people belonging to the broad sphere of same-sex affection in the life of the Church, under the love of the one Father who welcomes us in the freedom of how He created us,” reads the pamphlet.
The Catholic Church infallibly teaches that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law,” and that “homosexual persons are called to chastity.” The Church also teaches that a civilly divorced and remarried couple is in a state of adultery if the first marriage was valid.
The pamphlet, composed of several family life stories, presents the testimony of Marco and Michele, a homosexual couple since 2001. In their statement, the two describe a path of increasing participation in the community life of the San Giovanni Battista parish in Chiavari.
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Marco, already active in the parish community, recounts that Michele began attending after several years of co-habitating, taking part in the choir and other church initiatives. “And so, what was previously kept aside because it was uncomfortable and difficult to testify to, has fortunately now become a reason for commitment to also bring our experiences to others.”
The document also presents the testimony of a second homosexual individual. Gianluca, who is introduced individually, explains that his unnamed partner “has always been very critical and distant” in regard to the Catholic Church. However, Gianluca says that he feels “in communion and on a journey even with my Church,” emphasizing that their differing stances has not hindered his own path of ecclesial participation.
Another contribution is the story of Alessandra and Luca, a couple in a “new union.” In the pamphlet they say they met within their parish community. They cite Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia as a guide to understanding their place within the parish: “It is a matter of integrating everyone; each person must be helped to find their own way of participating in the ecclesial community.”
The Family Pastoral Service of the Diocese of Chiavari has been active for years. In 2023, according to La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, Father Torre collaborated with the dissident pro-LGBT group “La Tenda di Gionata” (“Jonathon’s Tent”) to organize activities for LGBT-identifying people within the Chiavari seminary. It was not the first time the Diocese of Chiavari has been involved in initiatives that contradict Catholic sexual morality.
In a recent statement the European Catholic bishops condemned a court’s decision to require members of the European Union that do not recognize homosexual “unions” to grant them legal validity if they were contracted in a member country that permits them.
