The Italian priest of the Catholic Church, Pietro Tosi, died today at the age of 86 in a nursing home where he has been kept for the last several years. The clergyman hit the front pages of the newspapers several months ago, when Italian media became aware of his story.
The death of an 86-year-old man was confirmed by the diocese of Ferrara, where the sinful priest lived for the past few years. According to the personal secretary of the local bishop, Torzi’s death was not violent: he died in a dream.
The scandal that Tosi found himself in was rioting all over the country after a young man named Erik Zattoni went to court, claiming that the priest had raped his mother back in 1980, when she was only fourteen years old. , and when she learned that she became pregnant, he refused to bear responsibility for his act. The young man assures that all his life he and his abandoned mother were faced with disrespectful attitude and condemnation of the people around them.
At first, even the relatives did not believe the stories of the young and pregnant girl, accusing her of all mortal sins and driving the poor man out of the house in attempts to avoid shame.
Unable to endure this suffering anymore, many years later, Eric had the courage to tell the whole world his story, and not so long ago went to court, insisting that Pietro acknowledge his paternity. The latter was ordered to do a DNA test, after which a kinship between the two men was established. Last month, the young man even took part in one of the Italian reality shows, revealing the whole truth about how Tosi did with his mother.
The priest refused to recognize his own son all his life, and also carefully avoided any contact with him. He stated that his conscience was absolutely clear, because the only one who could condemn him was God, who, according to Pietro, had long ago forgiven his servant for his sin.
However, Eric did not think to forgive his father.
After the real face of Pietro became known to the whole country, the 33-year-old man did not stop there and wrote a letter to Pope Francis himself, insisting that the Catholic Church properly punish its adherent.
Eric is very disappointed that the Catholic Church did not take any action after the scandal surfaced in the press. “In October, truth was revealed to the Holy See, but there was no punishment.” The son of a priest and a raped girl says that he was simply amazed at the fact that his father worked for another year as a parish clergyman, after he was sued.
Only last spring did Pietro receive a letter from the Vatican, in which the priest was urged to accept the already proven paternity.
In a conversation with reporters, Eric repeatedly explained the reasons for his decision to put the whole truth on public display. The young man claimed that in addition to his desire to hold the biological father accountable and restore his mother’s good name, he hoped to encourage victims of such cases to defend their rights. “No matter what happens, I will still go on with my head held high. “I hope that my story will be an example of how to act for those who find themselves in a similar situation.”
Upon learning of the death of his biological father, Eric noted that “death is always a sad event, especially for relatives and friends of the deceased.” However, the man added that in this case he does not feel sorrow or sadness.
“As for me, I cannot say that I am sorry. For me, he was only a pedophile, which is difficult to take for a real person. And I regret that he went unpunished. "
