Franco Barbero, a former Catholic priest, stands in front of his home in Pinerolo, Italy. March 17, 2016. (Fahmo Mohammed)
PINEROLO, Italy – The old spiritual says “I once was lost and now I’m found.” For most Christians, those words are about finding faith within the church. But for Franco Barbero, a former Catholic priest, he was lost within the Catholic Church.
The truth that set Barbero free was an awareness that some of the greatest truths, especially about human love, lay outside of the church.
In 2000, Barbero wrote his first book, “The Gift of Being Lost.” In it, he explores the benefits of being spiritually lost and unable to teach within a traditional institution. His lost state ultimately helped him find his own untraditional path in his Catholic faith.
Throughout his long career as a priest, Barbero never shied away from controversy. His thoughts on deeply-held Catholic beliefs put him at odds with senior members of the church. For example, he dismissed the notion that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin. Her immaculate conception is a major aspect of Catholic faith, but he saw it as mythology.
Perhaps Barbero’s most controversial belief was his support of same-sex partnerships. The Catholic Church’s opposition to such unions was reiterated in early April in a papal document called Amoris Laetitia. In the document, Pope Francis acknowledges that traditional gender roles are flexible in a heterosexual marriage, but he reiterated that the church does not endorse same-sex marriage. He did, however, say that all people deserve respect regardless of his or her sexual orientation, a statement seen as more open to gays and lesbians than statements of popes who came before him.
In 2003, three years after publishing his book on his spiritual journey, Barbero was defrocked by Pope John Paul II, due to his practice of blessing the unions of same-sex couples. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, wrote the official decree. At the time, Barbero had blessed the unions of three lesbian and 40 gay couples. But the condemnation the by the church did not stop him; in fact, it emboldened him. As of 2016, he has blessed more than 300 same-sex unions.
The blessings are symbolic, more than anything else. Same-sex marriages are not legal in Italy, nor are they recognized by the Catholic Church.
When the defrocking was decreed, Bishop Piergiorgio Debernardi of Pinerolo said in a statement about Barbero, “His moral stance and the celebration of pseudo-marriages among homosexual people are, basically, in serious contrast to the doctrine of the Catholic Church.”
Bishop Debernardi said he had tried for 30 years to convince Barbero to adhere to traditional Catholic beliefs. Specifically, he issued 11 warnings for Barbero to stop blessing homosexual couples.
A longtime friend of Barbero, Debernardi ultimately relayed the Pope’s decree to the former priest in a letter. Debernardi began the letter regretfully, saying he bears the message with “a lot of pain in [his] heart.”
Debernardi made it clear that the decree neither excommunicated Barbero from the church, meaning he would remain a Catholic, nor did it diminish the priest’s work on behalf of the poor.
The former priest began his career over half a century ago and is now nearly 80 years old, enjoying life with his wife Fiorentina in the sleepy town of Pinerolo outside of Turin, Italy.
Barbero was not always an LGBT ally. His evolution began when he first encountered an openly gay man in 1963 while in seminary. At the time, Barbero considered himself dogmatic and traditional, clinging to orthodox teachings. He said he once believed homosexuals were “sick, sex-crazed, or deviant.”
“I wasn’t prepared,” said Barbero, reflecting on his past beliefs. “I had a traditional view of families and therefore had a negative view of homosexuals. I was very ignorant.”
Unlike present day, when civil unions are a hot topic of debate in the Italian Senate, homosexuality was a rarely-discussed subject of conversation in the 60s. However, rather than dismissing the gay man, Barbero talked to him about homosexuality and learned about it.
“The direct contact with gays and lesbians healed me of my prejudices,” he said. “It was I who needed to be healed of my prejudices, not they who needed to be healed of any illness.”
Barbero considers himself to be an academic and believes priests should be on the side of the weak. In this case, “the weak” refers to homosexuals, a marginalized group in both Italian and Catholic societies.
Thirteen years after his defrocking, Italy is slowly catching up to Barbero,. In Rome in late February, the Italian Senate passed a bill allowing for same-sex civil unions without a provision allowing people to adopt the biological children of his or her same-sex partners. The lower house is expected to pass the bill in the coming weeks.
The bill may not give same-sex couples equal benefits as their heterosexual counterparts, but it would be a step towards LGBT equality for Italy, the last western European country without any recognition for same-sex couples.
Throughout his career, Barbero was critical of the church. In addition to speaking out in support of homosexuals, some of his primary concerns were the bans on priests from marrying and women from becoming priests. He called these laws inhumane.
He also believed miracles only fed superstition and regularly confronted other Catholic dogmas.
While he was not excommunicated, Barbero was defrocked and released from his vow of celibacy. In 2004, he married Fiorentina Charrier, who has been with him for 25 years now. He practiced what he preached in regards to arguing against priest celibacy. His relationship with Fiorentina began 12 years before he was defrocked.
He still considers himself to be a priest, but he is forbidden from performing the sacraments of the church and no longer leads a congregation in Pinerolo. However, he continues to bless the unions of same-sex couples.
The soon-to-be octogenarian found a way to reach Catholics even without a church. In addition to writing several books on religion, he says his active blog (donfrancobarbero.blogspot.com) connects him to more than 600,000 people virtually.
His digital congregants are not only Catholic. He’s received messages from people of many faiths thanking him for helping them reconcile their faith with their sexuality.
Barbero also spends his time counseling recovering alcoholics and drug addicts.
One member of the Religio team in particular was moved by Barbero. Following our discussion, Daniel Rodriguez, an openly gay Catholic, expressed his appreciation.
“As a Catholic gay man,” said Rodriguez, “thank you for being open-minded and sharing love.”
Barbero smiled at Daniel and gave him a hug.
“I’ve learned from you,” said Barbero, gently grabbing both of Rodriguez’s hands. “No matter what, stay strong.”
The two men do not share a language, and there are nearly 60 years between them. In that moment, they shared a connection that transcended time and distance, united by their shared hope that Catholicism can change in the 21st Century.