"Mine is a particular case and it seemed right to me, after very hard and demanding years, to share it with the community, before it became public knowledge".
This is how Father Paolo Contini, parish priest of Ghilarza, Abbasanta and Norbello , explained the reasons that prompted him to reveal, in a letter to the faithful, published online, that he had suffered sexual abuse during his years at the seminary .
The priest returned to talk about his dramatic story from the pulpit of the church of Ghilarza, at the end of Sunday Mass.
“Why tell this story publicly? For a simple reason: I think that denouncing pedophilia in the church must now be, following the line of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, the daily bread", underlined Contini. Adding: «Sins are confessed in the confessional, they are absolved and a sanction is also received in the secrecy of the sacrament. But crimes are another matter. But pedophilia is not just a sin: it is a crime that must be denounced, without ifs and buts, out loud . I thank the Lord for helping me and the community for accepting me."
Words that aroused the applause, thunderous and spontaneous, of all the faithful present at the function.
Seraphim Corrias