The Vatican has come under fire after dismissing a high-ranking Polish priest on the same day he revealed that he was gay.

Father Krzystof Charamsa, who held a post in the Vatican's branch for protecting Catholic dogma, urged the Catholic church to change its 'backwards' attitude to homosexuality.

The 43-year-old revealed that he also had a Spanish partner, in two separate interviews with an Italian newspaper and a Polish news programme.

Father Krzystof Charamsa, who held a post in the Vatican's branch for protecting Catholic dogma, urged the Catholic church to change its 'backwards' attitude to homosexuality

The high-ranking Polish priest said that his decision to come out as gay was motivated by the Church's 'inhuman' attitude to homosexuality

'It's time for the Church to open its eyes about gay Catholics and to understand that the solution it proposes to them – total abstinence from a life of love – is inhuman,' he told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, saying he wanted to challenge the Church's 'paranoia'.

'I know that I will have to give up my ministry which is my whole life.

'I know that the Church will see me as someone who did not know how to fulfil his duty [to remain chaste], who is lost and who is not even with a woman but with a man!'

The priest, who had held a post at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith since 2003, later held a news conference with his Catalan partner and gay activists at a restaurant in Rome.

Pope Francis waves during the audience at the Italian Banco Alimentare in Aula Paolo VI in Vatican City today. The Vatican insists the dismissal had nothing to do with Father Charamsa's homosexuality, which it said 'merits respect'

The 43-year-old revealed that he also had a Spanish partner, in two separate interviews with an Italian newspaper and a Polish news programme

The priest, who had held a post at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith since 2003, later held a news conference with his partner and gay activists at a restaurant in Rome

'I want to be an advocate for all sexual minorities and their families who have suffered in silence,' he said during the press conference.

'I dedicate my coming out to all gay priests.

'I wish them happiness even if I know that most of them will not have the courage to make the gesture I have made today.

IS IT A SIN TO BE HOMOSEXUAL?WHAT THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SAYS... The Catholic Church believes that homosexual desires are not a sin but they do become sinful when acted upon. This includes acting out the desire, encouraging it or deliberately engaging in fantasies about acting desires out. The Church opposes same-sex unions based on Genesis 1:25–28: 'God created man in his own image….male and female he created them… and God said, "Be fruitful and multiply"' and Genesis 2:24, 'a man shall be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.' Although many Christian churches accept openly gay ministers, the Catholic Church does not allow it. Advertisement

'To my Church, I want to say that I reject and I denounce the current atmosphere of exasperating homophobia.

'Open your eyes to the suffering of gay people, to their desire for love.'

He added: 'I place myself in the hands of God.'

He went on to present a 10-point 'liberation manifesto' against 'institutionalised homophobia in the Church', which he said particularly oppressed the gay men who, according to him, make up the majority of priests.

He also revealed plans for a book about his 12 years at the heart of a Vatican bureaucracy only just recovering from a scandal under previous Pope Benedict XVI over the influence of a 'gay lobby' among senior clergy.

He had also planned a demonstration in front of the Vatican, but changed the venue several hours before it was due to start.

But the Vatican insists the dismissal had nothing to do with Father Charamsa's homosexuality, which it said 'merits respect'.

It said, however, that giving the interview and the planned demonstration was 'grave and irresponsible' given their timing on the evening before a synod [meeting] of bishops that was set to discuss family issues, including how to reach out to gay people.

The Vatican has been embarrassed by controversy over the Pope's meeting with Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk who went to jail in September for refusing to honour a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and issue same-sex marriage licences

The priest said in the interviews that he knew his decision to come out would mean he would had to leave his position, which he described as 'his life'

It said his actions would subject the synod, which Pope Francis is due to open tomorrow, to 'undue media pressure'.

It continued: 'Msgr. Charamsa will certainly be unable to continue to carry out his previous work in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical universities, while the other aspects of his situation shall remain the competence of his diocesan Ordinary [local bishop].'

Although the issue of homosexuality forms only a tiny part of the synod's agenda, it has dominated the run-up to the three-week meeting and become a lightning rod for a broader debate between reformists and conservatives in the Church.

The issue of homosexuality and the Church has dominated the aftermath of the Pope's visit to the United States last week.

In the interview, Charamsa said his partner had helped him come to terms with his sexuality and knew he would have to give up the priesthood, although the Vatican statement made no reference to this outcome.

Pope Francis hugs a child during the audience at the Italian Banco Alimentare today in the Vatican City

The Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin but that homosexual acts are. Pictured, the Pope in the Vatican City today

The Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin but that homosexual acts are.

It is this that makes Charamsa's defrocking or resignation as a priest inevitable, according to Vatican experts.

Increasingly, progressive theologians have come to accept that sexuality is innate, a premise that makes it harder to maintain a stance of outright condemnation.

I dedicate my coming out to all gay priests. I wish them happiness even if I know that most of them will not have the courage to make the gesture I have made today. Father Krzystof Charamsa

But that view is not shared by conservatives who hold that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice and that the task of the Church is to help gays to live celibate lives.

The Vatican has been embarrassed by controversy over the Pope's meeting with Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk who went to jail in September for refusing to honour a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and issue same-sex marriage licences.

The Vatican said on Friday that 'the only real audience' the Pope had during his visit to Washington was with a small group that included a gay couple.

Last year's first round of the synod also sparked global headlines when a draft working document included a passage saying that loving same-sex relationships had qualities that the Church should recognise.