An Italian priest has prompted outrage by posting a message on Facebook telling a girl who had been raped it was her fault for getting drunk and hanging around with migrants. The priest's private message was leaked and soon went viral.

A priest in the Italian city of Bologna has been forced to apologize after telling an under-age girl who was raped that she deserved it.

Lorenzo Guidotti posted a long rant on Facebook in which he blamed the girl for hanging around with migrants and getting drunk.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry, but… you get revoltingly drunk… and then who do you go off with? A North African?" the priest wrote in the Facebook post.

"I'm sorry but if you swim in the piranha tank you cannot complain if you lose a limb," he wrote.

The girl was raped and robbed by a North African man after getting intoxicated.

"Do you understand that, along with the alcohol, you've gulped down the ideological tirade about 'welcoming everyone'?" Fr. Guidotti told the girl.

"Darling, at this point, waking up semi-naked is the least that could happen to you," he added.

Rant Only Visible to Priest's Facebook Friends

The priest's rant was leaked to Radio Citta del Capo by someone who saw it on Father Guidotti's Facebook page, which was set to private.

At one point he railed at the Italian government's policy of welcoming migrants.

Trovo disgustose le parole di don Lorenzo Guidotti sulla ragazzina stuprata a Bologna. L'argomento per cui una… https://t.co/e2L80KC1cb — Sergio Lo Giudice (@SergioLoGiudice) November 9, 2017

Twitter: "I find disgusting the words of don Lorenzo Guidotti about the young girl raped in Bologna."

Apology

Confronted about the Facebook post, Fr. Guidotti said he did not intend to attack the girl personally, but was "trying to make kids and their parents think."

But he later issued an unreserved apology to the victim and her family.

"With my intervention, I missed the terms, the ways, the corrections. I apologize to her and her parents if my imprudent words may have added pain," Fr. Guidotti said.

It is not clear if Fr. Guidotti faces disciplinary action by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Bologna Archdiocese said his opinion "in no way reflects that of the Church, which condemns every sort of violence."