ITALY
The Local
A priest in Italy has suspended all parish activity apart from Sunday mass, after being dogged by rumours that he fathered a child with a married member of his congregation.
Father Luciano Venturi, a 50-year-old parish priest in Monteobizzo di Pavullo, in the province of Modena, had endured the claims for over a year – but on Sunday he took decisive action, Gazzetta di Modena reported.
As the Sunday morning service was about to start, Venturi approached the pulpit, flanked by the parishioner he allegedly impregnated, her husband and their three young children.
Venturi then delivered a short homily on the subject of his supposed affair with the woman, addressing his congregation while reading a statement.
“I am not the father of that child,” Venturi told his flock.
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