Maryland Priest Denies Communion To Lesbian At Funeral

[LaPetiteSoeur]

The whole ordeal was handled badly, on everyone's part. At this point, everything is merely a "he said, she said" debacle. Actually, the diocese of Washington handled it the best. Everything should have been handled in private. Had Ms. Johnson really come up to the priest BEFORE the funeral (which I find unlikely, as family members walk behind the coffin at funerals and rarely are close family members in any way able to talk to anyone at that time), he should have said right then and there "You are not allowed to receive communion." If she came up to him before Mass, then there should have been plenty of time.

[Jesus_lol]

[quote name='Groo the Wanderer' timestamp='1330820952' post='2395860']
the only thing that POs me about this more than the militant lesbian forcing herself on the priest and demanding communion are the folks defending her.
[/quote]
[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1330819005' post='2395840']
Yes, he is a priest, and he is also a human being, one who was confronted by several aggressive and apparently hostile people (the woman, her partner and I think a brother or other family member according to one article) who seemed to want to challenge him on the issue of homosexuality.
[/quote]

militant now?

where is the indication that everyone was ganging up and acting hostile to this priest? Gay people and their families are not like gangsters in 50s musicals.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Jesus_lol

[LaPetiteSoeur]

I'm sure the woman didn't say to the priest "GIVE ME MY COMMUNION, SIR." I'm also sure she did nothing "militant" about receiving communion. Or is walking up, maybe just to receive a blessing considered militant now?

[Lil Red]

she didn't ask to receive a blessing, from what i can read in all the articles provided.

[AccountDeleted]

My source for the comment about them confronting the priest prior to Mass come from this article
[url="http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/exclusive-inside-sources-provide-new-info-on-priest-censured-for-denying-le"]http://www.lifesiten...-for-denying-le[/url]

which quotes "... Diego von Stauffenberg, a source who is close to the incident and who revealed detailed information about the nature of Fr. Guarnizo’s actions at the funeral."

[quote]
...

According to Stauffenberg the priest was confronted by Johnson for the first time moments before Mass began.

She was reportedly agitated by the fact that the funeral was being presided over by Fr. Guarnizo, who is well known for his outspoken defense of Church teachings. The priest has been on the front lines of local pro-life activism, leading prayer vigils at Dr. LeRoy Carhart’s late term abortion facility in Germantown.

Johnson initially came into the sacristy to discuss the details of the two eulogies that were supposed to be delivered, but left abruptly and returned with her brother and another woman, whom she introduced as her “lover.”

Following this introduction, Johnson made a second abrupt exit, this time with her lover reportedly blocking the door in an apparent attempt to prevent any further conversation between Fr. Guarnizo and Johnson.

The priest proceeded with the Mass, but decided to remind the congregation before Communion of what is required to be properly disposed to receive. Stauffenberg reports that when Johnson approached for Communion anyway, Fr. Guarnizo turned her away in a manner so discreet that the Extraordinary Minister standing a few feet away did not know what had occurred. Johnson then crossed over to the Extraordinary minister’s line and was given communion.

Moreover, says Stauffenberg, media reports that Fr. Guarnizo refused to be present during Johnson’s eulogy are inaccurate. Johnson [url="http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/193305/373/Lesbian-Says-Priest-Denied-Her-Communion-At-Moms-Funeral"]had told Channel 9 News[/url] that “Fr. Marcel left the altar, and did not return until I finished my eulogy.”

She [url="http://ncronline.org/news/people/communion-denied-grieving-deprived-woman-spurned-funeral-mass"]also told[/url] the National Catholic Reporter that Fr. Guarnizo not only did not attend the burial, but also did not make an effort to find another priest to do so, and that it was the funeral director who took the initiative in contacting another priest.

The truth, according to Stauffenberg, is that Fr. Guarnizo suffers from migraines which are triggered by stressful situations. He had a migraine during the funeral, and discreetly left after the first eulogy ended, looking for water to revive himself. When he returned to the sanctuary, Johnson was about five minutes into a eulogy that lasted around fifteen to twenty minutes.

After the Mass was over, he accompanied the body in procession down the aisle and out the door to the hearse, where he informed the funeral director that he would be unable to make the 11 mile drive from the Church to the cemetery on Aspen Hill. He personally arranged for the funeral director to contact another local priest, Fr. Paul Sweeney, who joined the family at the cemetery.

“Mrs. Johnson was given a Catholic funeral with all of the formality and all of the respect that the Catholic Church has to offer,” said Stauffenberg.

Most of the substantial details offered by Stauffenberg have been corroborated by another source who also contacted LifeSiteNews, but who wishes to remain anonymous. In addition, an email circulating in the Diocese which claims to have originated from a group of people who met with Father shortly after the incident says the following:

“Fr knew the lady was a practicing lesbian because she came into the sacristy and introduced her ‘lover’ to Fr just before the Mass. He quietly denied her communion (so quietly that the Euch minister next to him didn’t realize that he did), and the woman promptly went to the other line and received communion anyway! He left to use the restroom (he was getting a migraine) between the eulogies, but did finish the ceremony and escorted the casket out. He made arrangements for there to be another priest at the gravesite and there was. He felt that it was a matter of conscience to deny her communion since he had been informed that she was an active homosexual by her own admission.”

...


[/quote]

It sounds to me as if there was an agenda here that was not all about recieving Communion but about humiliating the priest.

I am not saying he acted completely appropriately but it does seem from these sources that he made every attempt to handle the situation with discretion but was unable to reconcile his conscience with the situation at hand - and that is probably why he got a migraine - the stress must have been very great, especially if he felt overwhelmed or under attack by the way in which the woman and her lover and brother approached him right before Mass.

Yes, it is 'he said, she said' and none of us may ever know the whole truth of the matter, so we must err on the side of charity ourselves by praying for all of the participants of this fiasco, whether it was intentional on anyone's part or not.

The fact that this has caused so much disagreement even amongst Catholics is a sure sign of the devil at work.

Edited March 4, 2012 by nunsense

[Norseman82]

[quote name='Katiebobatie94' timestamp='1330815562' post='2395812']
can i please, like i have done before, point out that people who are gay or lesbians do not by any means decide to be so.

[/quote]

[quote name='Katiebobatie94' timestamp='1330815562' post='2395812']
the priest was wrong. i can understand the denial of communion, but leaving the altar during the eulogy and not going to the cemetery because he was "suddenly ill" was a very poor choice on his part.
[/quote]

Do you realize what you are saying here? You are saying that gays don't have a choice in being gay, but people have a choice about falling ill?

You've got it all backwards. Even if gays and lesbians are born with some gene, DNA, or disposition to prefer people of their own half of humanity, they are still called to chastity. They do indeed have the power and responsibility to not act on those impulses.

[quote name='Katiebobatie94' timestamp='1330815562' post='2395812']
i thought, and i could just be young and naive, but i always thought that we were supposed to LOVE our neighbor, not publicly chastize them for something like that. because **that is a great example for the church to be setting. that really get people into those pews.** while i am not a lesbian, i have a few close girl friends who are. they don't go to church because the people there tell them they are wrong and that they are bad. call me crazy but i don't think thats what we're supposed to be doing.
[/quote]

In all charity, I'll grant you the "young and naive" part, because what they are doing IS wrong and bad, and one of the spiritual works of mercy is to "admonish the sinner".

Additionally, please read 1 Corinthians 5 (where St. Paul told the Corinthians to expel the man committing incest with his mother) and, additionally, the Gospel story of the woman about to be stoned for adultery where Christ, after rescuing the woman from the people who were about to stone her, told the woman to avoid that sin.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Norseman82

[4588686]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' timestamp='1330823855' post='2395887']
What possessed this female to go and confront a priest about her lifestyle choices 5 minutes before her mother's funeral in the first place? She chose the time and place of this behavior then whines about the consequence...
[/quote]

You have seem prone to conspiracy.

[Norseman82]

[quote name='Hasan' timestamp='1330830202' post='2395963']
You have seem prone to conspiracy.
[/quote]

Sounds more like she seems prone to common sense....

[Cherie]

I don't have time to read all the responses here. But this is the parish priest of most of the moms in my Catholic mom's group. The church is about 25 minutes from where I live. I don't know Fr. Marcel personally, but my wonderful friends do, and they are trying to rally support and prayers for their priest, whom they love. I have had reassurance from some of them who know the situation more fully that the media is twisting the story out of control. Remember that when you read those news stories. There are two sides to every story and we are only reading the "other" side, i.e. the woman's side and not the priest's. Please keep him and all involved in your prayers. He certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt.

[cappie]

As (I think) the only priest active in this discussion and as one who has had a similar experience, although in Australia we don't tend to make such a big deal about such things) no one comes out of this with kudos. The priest should have acted according to the Canon Law of the church and the person concerned did not do herself any favors by her confrontational action. As I said above quoting Ed Peters all including the priest need to be educated in the correct response and not just knee jerk reactions. Canon Law is the ultimate protector of the rights of the faithful and the clergy.

[font="Arial"]As Pope John Paul II explained when he [url="http://www.canonlaw.info/ten_majorcommentaries.htm"] signed[/url] the 1983 Code into law, canon law "is in no way intended as a substitute for faith, grace, charisms, and especially charity in the life of the Church and of the faithful. On the contrary, its purpose is rather to create such an order in the ecclesial society that, while assigning the primacy love, grace, and charisms, it at the same time renders their organic development easier in the life of both the ecclesial society and the individual persons who belong to it."[/font]

[bernadette d]

Has anyone considered how one share the guilt of anothers sin? Nine ways including "defending the ill done" and "by silence"

I am of the opinion that the Priest thought more of his immortal soul and the scandal given to others than anything else.

Edited March 4, 2012 by bernadette d

[bernadette d]

[quote name='CherieMadame' timestamp='1330845719' post='2396056']
I don't have time to read all the responses here. But this is the parish priest of most of the moms in my Catholic mom's group. The church is about 25 minutes from where I live. I don't know Fr. Marcel personally, but my wonderful friends do, and they are trying to rally support and prayers for their priest, whom they love. I have had reassurance from some of them who know the situation more fully that the media is twisting the story out of control. Remember that when you read those news stories. There are two sides to every story and we are only reading the "other" side, i.e. the woman's side and not the priest's. Please keep him and all involved in your prayers. He certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt.
[/quote]
Thank you for this

[cappie]

as God gives us his mercy, so are we to be merciful to others, says Jesus in the Gospel reading. The moment we refuse to give mercy even though God is being merciful to us, we are pulling ourselves away from him again. And again he waits for us to return to him whole-heartedly.

[b]Giving mercy doesn't mean condoning the sins of others, nor ignoring them, nor allowing them to continue.[/b] Mercy means that while we wait for others to repent, we don't judge them as unworthy of our love. God who is so great and amesome never believes that we are unworthy of a relationship with him, no matter how lousy and unholy we are! He never turns away from us, even though we turn away from him. This is the same love that we should give to others.

[bernadette d]

I cannot, and will not argue with a Priest, and believe in mercy towards others as God is merciful to me.

[bernadette d]

I just spoke to a Priest about this who simply said "No-one can approach the Altar (Communion) whilst [b][i]loving their sin[/i][/b]"