Women in love with priests ask pope to make celibacy optional

VATICAN CITY — Twenty-six women who say they are in love with Roman Catholic priests have written to Pope Francis urging him to make celibacy optional.

The women, who all live in Italy, described the “devastating suffering” caused by the church’s ban on priests having sex and marrying.

“We love these men and they love us,” they said in their letter published on the authoritative website Vatican Insider.

“With humility, we place at your feet our suffering so that something can change, not just for us but for the good of the whole Church,” they added in the message, signed with their first names and an initial of their last names, but with several phone numbers. - Reuters