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| Barbara Johnson |
Now, imagine you're gay, and the Priest will not give you Communion at the Mass because you're gay. And, you soldier on, because it's your mother's funeral.
But it gets worse. It was much worse for Barbara Johnson.
Last week, at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Barbara Johnson, her friends and family, gathered to say goodbye to Barbara's mother, who died after a brief illness.
Just a few minutes before the funeral began, Father Marcel Guarnizo, who was presiding over the service, apparently learned that Barbara Johnson was a lesbian.Now, Barbara had been born and raised Catholic and never thought her sexual orientation would be a problem with Father Marcel until she stepped forward to take communion.
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| "Father" Marcel Guarnizo |
Barbara composed herself, because, well, it was her mother's funeral, after all, and simply walked away. She had a eulogy to give.
A few minutes into her speech in remembrance of her mother, Barbara noticed that "Father Marcel left the altar and didn't return until I finished."
And it gets no better.
After refusing to give her communion, and then walking off the altar while she was giving her eulogy, Father Marcel refused to go with Barbara's mother's body to the cemetery in Aspen Hill.
Barbara Johnson was told that Father Marcel had suddenly become ill.
How f%king Christ-like. Not only was this "priest" disrespectful to Barbara Johnson, he was disrespectful to her mother's memory and to every single person int hat church.
In a written statement, the Archdiocese of Washington conceded that Father Marcel had acted improperly, saying, "Any issues regarding the suitability of an individual to receive communion should be addressed by the priest with that person in a private, pastoral setting."
In other words, tell them they are less than in private.
Barbara Johnson is a better person than I; she says she's satisfied with the statement, though the damage done, both to her family and to her mother's memory, can never be repaired: "We don't get a do-over. This was her one moment to pass from this earth."
That's the Catholic Church.
Ruining lives, and ruining funerals because of their homophobia.
So not a surprise - tales from relatives.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=13012
ReplyDeleteget the facts
I had a clear demonstration on what to do to a priest who refused based on some perceived slight against the church.
ReplyDeleteI was 13 years old when my mother died. The priest at the parish, Father David had the nerve to tell my father that because the priest though he didn't give enough to the church that my mother couldn't have the right.
My father grabbed the priest by the neck and started choking him. I was cheering dad on.
It was a sight, Father David wore these thick coke bottle glasses. Seeing his eyes bulge out of his head was priceless.
I have ZERO respect for the vast majority of priests. They are almost all assholes.
And when my grandmother died in 2005, another priest shook everyone's hand but mine. I chalk it up to my having the 'look' on my face. If I don't like a situation or person I tend to emanate it so that they can pick it up.
That priest is lucky I didn't choke the fuck out of him.
Now imagine the writer of this post had a f*king brain, or a f*king clue what he was talking about! Too bad, he doesn't.
ReplyDeleteIs it because you're stupid, gullible or just that much of an effing bigot that you've fallen for this pro-gay/anti-Catholic hatchet job by the pitiful and evil lesbian who spends her life trying to make a point? She's a fat, ugly, fifty two year old, self-loathing lesbian who thinks she's entitled to everyone's pity because she's so unattractive no man would ever have sex with her even if she paid him.
Oh, and did I mention she's not even Catholic? The bitch is a buddhist. Yeah, and she looks like the buddha too.
Although Anon's post here is basically a hate dripping diatribe against a woman who has faced discrimination and really shouldn't have been subjected to it on that day based on the beliefs of another, I do think there is one valid point in all that hate.
ReplyDeleteI understand that she was carrying out her mother's last wishes; but if she is not Catholic, why did she go up for communion? (Catholicism has an entire set of rules in place about whether or not you're allowed to take communion that no one bothers to read, by the way: http://www.catholic.com/tracts/who-can-receive-communion. My mother actually told me that when she was young, they weren't allowed to eat anything before mass and could only drink water.) Was it to honor her mother's memory? If she is Catholic, what the priest did was unthinkable and he needs to realize how much of the true colors of the church are shown by his actions.
This goes back to why I left organized religion a long time ago.
Wow, Anon, you must be Catholic because of your foul mouth.
ReplyDeleteSo effing Christ-like.
Okay, so she's Buddhist and shouldn't have gone up for Communion.,
That does not excuse that miserable excuse for a man of god for leaving the altar during her eulogy or not going to the cemetery.
The funeral was for THE MOTHER and what he did was inexcusable.
Oh, and you're an asshat.