In October 2015, on the day before the second round of the Synod on the Family, a senior Polish priest working in the Vatican, Krzysztof Charamsa, stated publicly in Italy's "Corriere della Sera" newspaper that he was gay and had a long-term partner. By doing so he had intended to draw attention to the Church's current attitude towards gay Catholics which he felt was regressive and damaging. In his resignation letter he thanked Pope Francis for some of his words and gestures towards the gay community. However, in contrast strongly criticized the institution of the Catholic Church for being "frequently violently homophobic" and "insensitive, unfair and brutal" towards people that are gay; noting the irony that he felt there were significant numbers of gay men active at all levels within the Church (including the cardinalate). He called for all statements from the Holy See that are offensive and violent against gay people to be withdrawn, citing Pope Benedict XVI's signature of the 2005 document that forbids men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies from becoming priests as particularly "diabolical".