forbidden love

A Catholic priest has been sacked from his rural French parish for engaging in what the Church deems "forbidden love", outraging his loyal parishioners.
According to The Times, Father Léon Laclau was asked to leave his parish after his order denounced his behaviour as “too scandalous”.
But he hasn't been caught kiddie fiddling, visiting rent boys, female prostitutes or generally putting it about.
His transgression is that he has had a long-term relationship with a local widow, taking care of her three children and - shock horror - failing to hide it from public view.
The Church's view is of course that celibacy is central to being a priest or nun. They wear a wedding ring to signify that they are "married" to Jesus, and know what they are signing up to when they join the ministry.
This is one of the many central teachings of the religion in which I was raised - but have long since left - that I really struggle with.
The idea that a private, adult, loving relationship - be it gay, straight or whatever takes your fancy - can be a bad thing grates on me, no matter how much people try to justify it.
To me, extreme behaviour is unhealthy, in any sphere of life. Celibacy is not a natural state of being for the vast majority of humans, and often the more you deny yourself something, the more you crave it. That cannot be a good thing.
No doubt many priests do indeed manage it, but some haven't, with disastrous results.
It's interesting that the Church has been so coy on this subject, while poor Father Leon has provoked such a strong response.
His parishioners claim he is being punished for failing to hide his relationship in the time-honoured manner by passing his lover off as his housekeeper.
And he put it like this: "It is a permanent tension to live a forbidden love. But love is always the strongest.
“Far from stopping me from carrying out my job as a priest, Marga helped me and encouraged me through her enthusiasm and her vision of the world and the Church and through her faith.”