Pope Francis reacted with sadness, this Friday, to the news that two former nuns got married, after the approval of same-sex unions in Italy, in May. The wedding ceremony took place on September 28. The Vatican statement came from Angelo Becciu, who tweeted about the reaction he got from the Pope when he gave him the news. The Federica and Isabel case was mentioned in the Italian newspaper La Reppublica, which published and interview with them this Friday (7). Federica is 44 years old and Italian, while Isabel is 40 years old and came from a South American country.
They had a civil ceremony in the small town of Pinerolo, in Northern Italy.
Leaving convent: a matured decision
The new civil couple told La Reppublica that they met each other in Guinea-Bissau, a tiny country in West Africa, while in the mission as volunteers to help the poor. They pondered to live their love as a secret, inside the convent walls, and were told by some sisters to do so. Anyway, as mentioned above, until very recently they would not have their civil rights recognized as a couple.
The evolution of the law was one of the factors behind their decision to leave the convent and live openly and without secrets. But Federica and Isabel also mention the need to live without hypocrisy.
They justify themselves with the Gospel, saying that Jesus Christ himself condemned hypocrisy, but not homosexuality and they say there may be thousands of people, among the Catholic Church, "trapped" in the same situation as they were.
Married nuns stated that Pope Francis himself inspired them
Federica and Isabel also told La Reppublica that Pope Francis was an inspiration to them when he said, earlier during his pontificate, "Who am I to judge?" They say that "the idea opened their hearts."
La Reppublica could not ask the nuns what would they think about Pope Francis reaction to their story because the tweet from Angelo Becciu came out after the interview was published.
Moreover, the press still hasn't asked the Vatican if the Pope had predicted that his famous proclamation, mentioned by the two nuns, could inspire this kind of behavior, against the teachings of the Catholic Church.
