The diocese of Haarlem wants priest Pierre Valkering to temporarily lay down his priestly duties. On Sunday the Amsterdam priest came out of the closet during a mass in honor of his 25 year anniversary at the Vredeskerk in the Dutch capital, NOS reports.

Valkering closed his mass with a speech about the 'big pink elephant' in the Catholic Church. Wearing a pink robe, which he was allowed to wear because the color is part of the fourth Sunday of Lent, the 57-year-old priest criticized the silence that reigns around homosexuality in the church. "I suffered a lot from that", he said. Valkering spoke about his life as a latent homosexual, also describing visits to gay saunas and darkrooms.

Because it can assumed from Valkering's statements that he did not abide by his vow of celibacy, the diocese demanded that he step down for the time being, according to NOS. "He now unmistakably said in public that he has not kept his celibacy vow, and cannot and will not keep it", the diocese wrote. "Moreover, he also allows other sexual freedoms. For the Roman Catholic Church, this is incompatible with a worthy exercise of the priesthood."