An Italian priest who shed his collar and cassock after falling in love with a woman is now standing for the mayor of his local town near Naples.
Don Antonio Romano, 54, former priest at the parish of ChiusanoSan Domenico, in the province of Avellino, said he was going up against the incumbent in "an unequal struggle inspired by the ideals of justice, honesty and freedom".
Romano told journalists he could not yet set a date for marrying the woman he loves, and denounced a "mud-slinging machine" which had allegedly defamed him after he left the priesthood.
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