This is the shocking moment a hardline Catholic cleric kicks two gay men out of his church after branding the pair ‘sinful’ and ‘perverted’ as they attended Mass.
The incident took place at Saint Dominic’s Church in the city of Plock in the eastern Polish region of Masovian Voivodeship and was shared on Facebook by Mateusz Gozdzikowski where it has been viewed 122,000 times.
Video Credit: CEN/Mateusz Gozdzikowski
According to the two gay residents, identified as Monika Niedzwiecka and Mateusz Gozdzikowski, the priest took their phone and refused to give it back until the police intervened.
They had earlier entered the church and were stunned to see signs erected around a cross on the altar that read “LGBT”, “gender”, “perversions” and “hate speech”, among others.
In the footage, the two residents confront the unnamed priest and ask: “Why are you calling for hate for a particular group of people?”
He replies: “Do you have any insights into theology, what is evil and what is good? I am talking about sins.”
Gozdzikowski asks: “Being LGBT is a sin? Homosexuals are sinful?”
The priest says: “Yes, that’s deviation.”
In response, Gozdzikowski comments: “So according to you, I’m a pervert, right?”
The priest answers: “Yes, you are.”
At the end of the clip, the priest says: “Please, don’t profane the church anymore. You have to leave now.”
As Gozdzikowski asks “why are you setting the dogs on me and calling for hate”, the priest appears to raise his left arm.
According to the gay man, the priest swiped his phone in that moment.
The police arrived and returned the phone to Gozdzikowski who claimed that the SIM card was missing.
He said that a cop told him the priest had nothing to do with the missing item so he filed a complaint of theft at the station and reported the officer for not assisting him at the time.
Gozdzikowski told Central European News (CEN): “I am not a strong believer, but I never thought I would experience something like this from a priest.”
He added: “For now, nothing new has happened since the weekend and I still do not have my SIM card.”
It is unclear whether the local authorities are investigating the matter.
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Story By: Bartosz Staszewski, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
