LGBT
Related: About this forumGay woman wants priest relieved of duties after communion
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) - A lesbian woman from the nation's capital wants a Catholic priest relieved of his duties after he denied her communion at her mother's Maryland funeral because she lives with another woman, she said on Wednesday.
The local archdiocese has apologized for the actions of Father Marcel Guarnizo, but Barbara Johnson, who is gay and lives with her lesbian partner, said that was not enough.
Guarnizo officiated at a funeral mass for Loetta Johnson on Saturday at Saint John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, about 25 miles northwest of Washington. He told attendees that only church members in a "state of grace" would be allowed to receive communion, Johnson said.
Johnson said that when she approached, the priest covered the communion chalice with his hand, "looked me in the eye and said 'I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman.'"
The priest told her "in the eyes of the church, that is a sin," she said. She and her family told the Archdiocese of Washington, which has issued an apology.
more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/29/us-church-priest-idUSTRE81S2GA20120229
pdf of the letter
http://www.washingtonpost.com/r/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/02/29/Local/Graphics/Letter%20to%20Barbara%20Johnson.%20BCK.%2002282012.pdf
Lack of sensitivity...how about bigotry. This priest needs to be relieved of all of his duties now.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)attempting to throw this guy under the bus for refusing this woman communion, suggesting that he overstepped. Yet the same clerics criticizing this priest are campaigning against Maryland's new law allowing same sex marriage. It's like the old time segregationists denying responsibility for lynch mobs!
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)beyurslf
(6,755 posts)He was only exercising the hate that they spew all the time.
Fearless
(18,421 posts)The church is too protected by "tradition" and so on. They're given free reign to hate whoever they want. It's time we end that.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)if I could.
yardwork
(61,651 posts)A person should be able to attend their mother's funeral without being publicly harrassed by the priest officiating the ceremony. And people should not have to walk away from deeply-held, lifelong beliefs to avoid being abused by bigots.
William769
(55,147 posts)RetiredTrotskyite
(1,507 posts)and find a faith community that doesn't discriminate...like the MCC.