A Catholic Priest of Italian extraction has dumped Priesthood after falling in love with a 26-year-old nurse simply identified as Laura.

The Priest, Don Riccardo Ceccobelli
made the confession to hang his cassock in the middle of mass in a homily held in the City of Todi, in the Perugia province, located in the center of the Country.

The 41-year-old priest said this in an interview with the Italian media after he had informed the parishioners had learned of the Massa Martana church.

Ceccobelli who has begun the procedure for his resignation, said he would give up the habit to live love in freedom.

“I am in love and I want to live this love without sublimating it, or taking it away,” he said.

“My heart fell in love, I have never betrayed the promises I made, but I want to try to live this love. I cannot be coherent, transparent and correct with the Church as I have been until now.”

Bishop Gualtiero Sigismondi who was among the audience thanked him for his transparency.

“I thank Don Riccardo for all the service provided so far. And first of all, I send you my sincere wishes so that this decision, taken in full freedom as he himself told me, guarantees peace and serenity”

On how he fell in love with Laura, Ceccobelli said, “We have known each other for 4 years, because I was the pastor of Massa Martana for six years and we met in the parish. But it was since September that something in me changed forever. I started to feel an emotion inside of me, but at first I did everything I could to keep the situation under control, I swear to you, I was hoping that she would find a boyfriend, but with each passing day, I felt more and more sick.

“One night I urgently needed to call her on the phone. I couldn’t sleep if I didn’t hear her voice. When she answered me, I said, ‘Hello, hello, it’s me’, and immediately I felt a well-being and a peace within me. I fell asleep. On January 1, I submitted my resignation to the parish.

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