Women staged a protest at Sunday mass after a priest in Italy blamed violence against females committed by men on provocative behaviour and clothing.

The activists made their opposition to Father Pietro Corsi’s views clear at the main church in the Tuscan city of Carrara.

Father Corsi, priest at a church in nearby Lerici, penned his views in a letter, then posted it on the church noticeboard.

“We decided to stage this protest because we think that this ideology is basically shared by most of the Catholic Church and society. This ideology has become one of the causes of violence against women, which is actually an emergency in Italy,” said Anthropologist and women’s rights activist Alessandra Verdini, who organised the protest by using Facebook.

Corsi’s letter was taken down after huge protests across Italy.

According to the country’s main news agency ANSA, the priest has been instructed to take some time off to think about his mistakes by the Bishop of La Spezia Ernesto Palletti, who called Corsi’s comments “unacceptable”.