Lesbian denied Communion at Funeral
 

As her elderly mother was dying, Barbara Johnson lay next to her on the hospital bed, reciting the "Hail Mary." Loetta Johnson, 85, had been a devout Catholic, raising her four children in the church and sending them to Catholic schools.

At her mother's funeral mass at the St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, Md., a grieving Barbara Johnson was the first in line to receive communion.

What happened next stunned her. The priest refused Johnson, who is gay, the sacramental bread and wine.

"He covered the bowl with the Eucharist with his hand and looked at me, and said I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin in the eyes of the church," Johnson told ABC News affiliate WJLA.

Her older brother, Larry Johnson, couldn't believe what he had seen.

"I walked to the side of the church to console her, because she was clearly distraught," Johnson told ABC News.

Larry Johnson said his sister, who has been in a committed gay relationship for 19 years, composed herself enough to give her mother's eulogy, but then he was shocked at what happened next. The priest left the altar, Johnson said, and didn't return until his sister was nearly finished speaking.

Family members added that the priest failed to come to the grave site, and the burial was attended by a substitute priest found by the funeral director.

Larry Johnson and his sister were outraged at what occurred on "what would already have been the worst day of my life," he said.

They want the priest, the Rev. Marcel Guarnizo, removed from dealings with parishioners. They also believe he owes them an apology.

"This isn't about gay rights and it isn't about Catholic bashing, it is simply about the conduct of a reprehensible priest," said Johnson.

But the head of DignityUSA, a group that focuses on gay and lesbian rights and the Catholic Church, sees the incident as part of a wider problem.

"The reality is, in some ways, it is very emblematic of the hierarchy's approach to gay people, transgender people," said Marianne Duddy-Burke. "There are little messages of rejection that happen all the time."

Guarnizo did not return an email asking for a comment about the incident.

The Archdiocese of Washington had no public comment about the priest's behavior, but issued a statement that indicated Guarnizo should have taken up the matter of whether Johnson could receive communion in private.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs...-abc-news.html

Absolutely reprehensible. A good friend of mine was told her gay brother could not take communion (and was generally unwelcome) at her son's first communion ceremony. The entire family has since converted to the Episcopal Church, and their diocese lost three very smart and talented children from their school.

As one of my friends said, if there's any trend some have noticed between members of the clergy and politicians that make such open statements against the gay community, it's that their closets are always full of fun pieces of hypocrisy.

Ugh, how sad.

I am very sad for her but the church's doctrine is the church's doctrine. There may be plenty of hypocrites within the hierarchy of the church but the church's stand on the matter isn't a secret. Membership and participation in a religion isn't a right but those who aren't happy about a church's doctrine do have a right to find another that more closely aligns with their personal beliefs.

when you are raised to believe in something, and that something is one of the only ways to maintain a connection with your deceased mother and find comfort and meaning is not the best time to consider changing religions. I have a feeling that this lesbian is a much better catholic than many other in her congregation.

Funeral arrangements take time, she could have been warned that she would have been denied communion. the priest was exceedingly rude and cruel to this woman and her family. furthermore, by treating her in this way he also showed disrespect for the woman being remembered. she is grieving and she was looking for comfort in the church. a decent human being would have granted her that comfort or at the very least treated her like a person. the church preaches we should love another as jesus loves us... that is its most basic and simple tennant and this priest got it wrong. he should face consequences.

THIS! As an active member of the catholic church, I have to say this whole article makes me cringe. The priest is definitely in the wrong on how he handled the situation. DURING a mass is not the time for him to do these things. If he has approached the family PRIOR to the mass, in private and explained everything, that would have been different. Even if he had done that, she should have been allowed to approach the priest during communion for a blessing.

It sounds like the priest made a major mistake and decided to make a statement at the wrong time.

When I was a Eucharistic Minister in high school and college both times I did training we were told that we shouldn't be making judgement calls on whether or not the person that came up to us was eligible to receive communion. I do not know if the rules are different for priests, and I will concede that they might be.

Regardless, the above posters are correct, there were many opportunities for this situation to be avoided with dignity.

The priest has a right to deny communion to a notorious sinner IIRC, however he should approach that person privately about it.

His behavior during the eulogy (and I am surprised there was a eulogy - it was my understanding Roman Catholic services do not have eulogies) and failure to go to the gravesite is unacceptable.

Generally, they don't. I believe they do allow a family member or friend to speak after communion, but it is supposed to be fairly short. I assumed this is when the "eulogy" took place.

yes!

What a wonderful example this priest set for his parishoners! What will he do next, bring back the inquisition? Perhaps he could add an Auto Da Fe to the funeral service and burn the sinner at the stake.

Last time I looked the message of Christ was all about reconciliation, forgiveness, compassion, and redemption. Did I miss something along the way?

This priest was brutal in his ham handed approach and surely did far more harm than any good that might have come from a loving celebration of the mother's entry into the presence of Our Lord.

I do not argue the Church's dogma and rules, they state the ideal for which I should strive. I do argue that the real often falls short of the ideal and the role of the priest is to lead, help, council, and encourage - not to hold up to public approbation and castigation. I cannot picture Our Lord kicking a grieving woman when she is down. Didn't He say something about "Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone"? Something else He said comes to mind, "What so ever you do to the least of my children, this you do also to me!"

In the old days the prayers for the dead included the "De Profundis" which calls out, 'If you oh Lord mark our iniquities who among us can stand!' I get the impression that Our Lord made his position pretty clear - He paid the freight for us and all we are called to do is to accept His gift. I think this priest missed the point.

So, as a deeply convinced and practicing Roman Catholic I offer my prayers for the soul of the mother, calling on the promise of salvation given by Our Lord. I offer my prayers for the consolation of the lady who has suffered both her loss and her pain inflicted by this most disappointing priest. And, I offer my sympathy and condolence.

Preface: I was [poorly] raised Catholic, but I don't currently identify as such and haven't been to mass since I was confirmed. Other than that, I've just been to weddings and funerals.

Any Catholics correct me if I'm wrong because I very well could be, but I seem to recall that certain special occasions in the church invite all attendees to receive communion. Is this at the discretion of the parish/priest? I can't remember if a funeral is one such occasion. I might be making this up. If so, it seems kind of strange that the priest would refuse communion to anyone. Plenty of Catholics who sin receive communion, and any attendee inherently sins according to the Catholic Church because they are not Catholic, but they are invited to receive communion anyway. Just weird.

I'm not about to tell the Catholic church how to operate, though. Sure, I think the priest's refusal is rude and very disrespectful, but keeping public policy out of the church's business is the other half of "separation of church and state". Attitudes and actions like this from the Catholic church are one of many reasons I'd never go back, even if I woke up one day and the theology actually made sense to me.

This is exactly what I was thinking.

I guess the priest also forgot how the Pharisees grumbled about Jesus and said "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." (Luke 15:2) I have a hunch that Jesus feels about what this priest did pretty much like he felt about much that the Pharisees did.