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Fr Gino Flaim Cronaca via YouTube

Italian priest suspended after saying he "understands" paedophilia

Fr Gino Flaim added that homosexuality was an “illness.”

A CATHOLIC PRIEST in northern Italy has been suspended after a TV interview in which he said he “understands paedophilia” but regards homosexuality as an “illness.”

Fr Gino Flaim, 75, was speaking yesterday on L’aria Che Tira, a current affairs programme on TV channel La 7, when he was asked for his views on the subject.

He said he could “understand” how clerical child sex abuse can take place, The Local reports.

Because I’ve been to lots of schools and I know children, unfortunately, there are children who seek affection because they don’t get it at home.

Flaim said paedophilia was a sin that should be accepted, “like all sins,” but that homosexuality was an “illness.”

An excerpt of the interview, in Italian, can be viewed here:

Cronaca / YouTube

The Diocese of Trento, about 90 miles north-west of Venice in northern Italy, immediately suspended Flaim from his duties as a parish priest, and distanced itself from his comments.

Read: Vatican dismisses gay priest who came out on eve of meeting regarding homosexual believers>

Read: Author John Grisham says sentences for watching child porn are too harsh>

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Dan MacGuill
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