A young Italian mother was turned away from her son's christening because her dress was too short. As the ceremony was starting, in front of another couple, the priest told Chiara Limido to go and put a more suitable dress on if she wanted to see her son baptised.
Mrs Limido left the ceremony in tears and returned some time afterwards with a longer dress on, having missed most of the baptism. Her husband Randolfo said he was thinking of suing the priest, 42-year-old Father Loris Fregona.
"I tried to keep cool, out of respect for the other family present", Mr Limido told a paper in this northeastern city.
"The priest is entitled to apply a dress code in his church. But he subjected my wife to public humiliation - blackmail even".
A friend of Mrs Limido said: "Chiara's dress was completely normal, a nice black outfit that covered her shoulders. It was a few inches above the knee but there is a heat wave, after all".
On Tuesday, Father Fregona said he was forced to take action to protect Mrs Limido "from the judgement of the community".
He said he felt no need to apologise to the family.
The local bishop's spokesman said: "A parish priest has a duty to point out if there is something wrong with somebody's clothing".
