-Priest, 75He was found dead inside the rectory of his parish after he didn’t show up to celebrate the Eucharist.
Corriere del Trentino reported the death as a voluntary act.
Two months earlier he had learned that he would have to leave San Carlo in November for another pastoral assignment. Zatelli publicly said he had not asked to leave.
Sad detail: During his Easter homily, Don Zatelli preached about Judas's suicide. He discussed Judas as someone overwhelmed by despair who could no longer see beyond the obstacle before him, but emphasized Christ's forgiveness and imagined Jesus ultimately embracing Judas in heaven.
Eucharists Beyond Rubrics
A 2019 interview called him the “eternal bad boy of the Trentino Church.”
A November 2020 profile describes Zatelli as working in a kind of laboratory parish.
His Eucharists went beyond formulas and interpreted the Gospel through contemporary events. His pastoral council was described as looking toward the future rather than toward rules. The parish addressed subjects including sexuality, non-believers and other religions.
His theological emphasis was: “God does not punish, but embraces.”
Baptisms for Children of Homosexual Couples
Don Zatelli was a
-priest. In an October 2020 interview he revealed that he had baptised two children raised by homosexual couples, one gay male couple and one lesbian couple, at different times.Other Trentino priests had declined the baptisms before the couples approached Don Zatelli. He claimed that the homosexuals were believers and that the baptisms were “the most natural and beautiful thing in the world”.
Crucially, Zatelli asked the diocesan Curia for permission and received “formal approval” from the Archdiocese of Trento, run by Monsignor Lauro Tisi.
In a June 2021 interview with the Trentino news outlet il Dolomiti, Don Zatelli interpreted Hungary's defence of the family as anti-homosexual discrimination: “Have we gone mad?”
He even asked why homosexuality should not be discussed with under-18s.
He summarized his approach with Pope Francis's “Who am I to judge?” Don Zatelli was extremely enthusiastic about Pope Francis and spoke of an “epoch-making revolution.”
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