Maryland Priest, Denies Communion To Lesbian Parishioner At Her Mother's Funeral
-
A Maryland-based priest is garnering heat in the blogosphere today after allegedly denying communion to a lesbian parishioner attending her mother's funeral.
As The New Civil Rights Movement blogger David Badash is reporting, Father Marcel Guarnizo of Gaithersburg's Saint John Neumann Catholic Church reportedly covered the bowl containing the Eucharist as the woman, who is identified only as Barbara, approached him.
“I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin according to the church," he is quoted as saying.
Badash quotes from an Addicting Info blog written by Ann Werner, who also notes, "To add insult to injury, Fr. Guarnizo left the altar when she delivered her eulogy to her mother. When the funeral was finished he informed the funeral director that he could not go to the gravesite to deliver the final blessing because he was sick."
Werner also notes, "I will tell you a little about the woman who drove that priest from the altar. She is kind, she is smart, she is funny and she works hard promoting the arts. She pays her bills, she cares deeply for her family and she loved her mother and her mother loved her right back. And now she will never set foot in a Catholic church again and who can blame her?"
Other bloggers seem to agree with Badash's assessment of Guarnizo. On Restore DC Catholicism, one reader notes, "We need to have a mass protest against this HYPOCRITE! He is one of these reactionary evangelical zealots who believe the pulpit is a place to condemn others and control public policy."
-
She is kind, she is smart, she is funny and she works hard promoting the arts."
Her ability to choose funeral service locations could use some polishing.
-
Barbara Johnson, Maryland Lesbian Denied Communion At Mother's Funeral, Speaks About Incident
A Maryland lesbian who was denied Communion by a Catholic priest while attending her mother's funeral is speaking out about her experience.
CNN's Brooke Baldwin spoke to Barbara Johnson, who confirmed previously reported details of the incident. "I approached [Father Marcel Guarnizo of Gaithersburg's Saint John Neumann Catholic Church] to receive communion, and at that moment, he placed his hand over the bowl containing the Eucharist and looked into my eyes and said, 'I cannot give you Communion because you live with a woman, and in the eyes of the church, that is a sin.'"
Johnson, 51, now says that Father Marcel also left the altar as she was delivering her eulogy. Though Johnson has reached out via an email, the priest has yet to apologize.
Meanwhile, as The Washington Post is reporting, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has since apologized in a statement, noting that the priest has an obligation to "handle such a situation pastorally by discussing the consequences of such sin with the person privately before actually denying them Communion."
As Johnson noted, "My family are very appreciate of all of the outreach we've received. However, we believe the only reason to be talking about this still is because we would not want any other family to go through what was the worst experience on the very worst day of all of our lives…we feel that it is important that Father Marcel is removed from parish life."
