Father Geronimo Moreira from a small town in Bahia, Brazil, had a heartfelt speech prepared for what it would become his last mass ever. The priest from the northeastern Brazilian town stunned his parishioners by announcing during mass that he would soon become the father of a baby girl and leave priesthood. In a letter he had prepared to read out loud to the congregation, he said he fell in love with a local girl and got her pregnant.
"With time, we noticed that our friendship had something more: love, but we always sought to leave it at the level of friendship," the 32-year-old priest revealed. "I said that if I could not keep my vow of celibacy, I would first leave the priesthood so as not to create a scandal in the community," he said. "Things did not turn out as I had expected and we developed a concrete relationship, and today she is pregnant and I want to assume paternity." After the announcement, Moreira said he was very emotional and cried a lot, the same reaction his congregation had.
Moreira met Emilia Carneiro, his girlfriend and now mother-to-be of his future daughter, in 2007 when he was still in the seminary. The now 23-year-old girl is three months pregnant and works as a secretary at a school in Bahia. The former priest recently started working in construction, and plans to go to school to study engineering.
The couple plan to have a Catholic wedding, but this will require permission from Pope Francis, who visited Brazil in late July to attend World Youth Day. "I'm going to file the official petition," said Moreira. "Generally, popes will grant permission," he added feeling hopeful.
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