Posted on 02/29/2012 10:07:57 AM PST by marshmallow
Deep in grief, Barbara Johnson stood first in the line for Communion at her mother’s funeral Saturday morning. But the priest in front of her immediately made it clear that she would not receive the sacramental bread and wine.
Johnson, an art-studio owner from the District, had come to St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg with her lesbian partner. The Rev. Marcel Guarnizo had learned of their relationship just before the service.
“He put his hand over the body of Christ and looked at me and said, ‘I can’t give you Communion because you live with a woman, and in the eyes of the church, that is a sin,’ ” she recalled Tuesday.
She reacted with stunned silence. Her anger and outrage have now led her and members of her family to demand that Guarnizo be removed from his ministry.
Family members said the priest left the altar while Johnson, 51, was delivering a eulogy and did not attend the burial or find another priest to be there.
“You brought your politics, not your God into that Church yesterday, and you will pay dearly on the day of judgment for judging me,” she wrote in a letter to Guarnizo. “I will pray for your soul, but first I will do everything in my power to see that you are removed from parish life so that you will not be permitted to harm any more families.”
Late Tuesday, Johnson received a letter of apology from the Rev. Barry Knestout, one of the archdiocese’s highest-ranking administrators, who said the lack of “kindness” she and her family received “is a cause of great concern and personal regret to me.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Priest Attacked by Left-Wing Commentators for Allegedly Refusing Communion to Unrepentant Homosexual
Looks like the lavender mafia in the chancery are coming to the rescue by throwing the priest under the bus.
Wuerl is a gutless queen.
What a ridiculous article - the headline should read “A Lesbian Has Feelings Hurt!”
I noted that WaPo ran this article the same day they had 6 other anti-Santorum, anti-Catholic “health-care” editorials.
Seems all very contrived.
Actually, the correct policy was NOT followed here. I am sure that the good priest intended to do the right thing. However, in reality, he didn’t apply Canon 915 in the proper way.
Fr. Z has this to say:
The priest was right. Mine would have done the same thing.
"Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, Nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
What kind of person uses her mother’s funeral to push her political agenda. My guess - a really sick person.
Good for the priest! Now if someone would only have the guts to deny CINO Maryland Governor Martin O’Mally communion in nearby Annapolis and CINO Barabara Mikulski in Baltimore.
The lesbian set the priest up
http://awashingtondccatholic.blogspot.com/2012/02/update-on-fr-marcel-guarnizo.html
Well, another opportunity seized to show us all that the Eucharist really isn’t a big deal when you get right down to it.
Good for the priest. Bishop’s fault that there is even a question about this.
Freegards
Why does this woman want to bother with communion, except as a symbol so that she can desecrate the host? If she believed it mattered, wouldn’t she also believe that she could not safely take communion while living an openly sinful life? The Church needs to work harder on educating the flock.
God Bless that priest.
I find this infuriating! I am a lapsed Catholic who has to attend Catholic Masses on occasion due to family obligations. I am always amazed and horrified by the number of people who receive Communion. When I was a kid, the lines were much, much shorter. Why? Because people were in the state of sin and, therefore, would not receive. They had the decency to know better. This woman had no right to be on line! And then to scream bloody murder because the priest stood up to her - what a witch.
I think the priest was actually in the wrong here.
How did he find out, first of all? While it may seem immediately apparent, certainly there are a lot of other overweight women with haircuts like that who are probably not gay, and I can’t believe he’d rely on her appearance. Or did some little birdie tell him this on his way out to say mass? If so, who?
And what’s to prevent the same little bird from whispering that so-and-so practices birth control (probably about 99% of the congregation) and that so and so else is living with her boyfriend, etc.? Is he going to take all of these things for granted without even asking the person involved any questions?
Sorry, I think this was indeed badly handled. If he wanted to deny her communion on the suspicion that she was an active lesbian, he should have told her in advance. Then if she had acknowledged that she was doing this and had still come up for communion, he would have been justified in reminding her that they had spoken about this and that he had told her that she had to reconcile to Church policy before he could give her communion.
This just gives ammunition to haters of the Church.
She had taught in a Catholic school so she was well aware of the rule regarding not receiving Communion while in a state of Mortal sin.
Shame on the Bishop for forcing an apology from the priest who did right.
This was so stupid. Would this sanctimonious priest deny Communion to every man and woman who use contraception, to those who have “coveted” another’s spouse or property, had sex with another’s spouse, told a lie (false witness) or all the gay priests and nuns ?
This was just stupid on his part
For every CINO who is deeply offended by a Priest who refuses to condone sin, heterodoxy or heresy, a large number of real Catholics will be enlivened.
As a doctor cannot be compelled to harm instead of heal, and as a soldier can refuse an illegal order, a Priest has it within his authority to obey the church and its doctrines, even if directed to do otherwise.
This woman chose to live in contravention to the doctrines of her faith, even choosing to flaunt this relationship on consecrated ground. The priest was well within his authority to deny her communion.
In all fairness, priests should extend this denial to others known to live in contravention of church doctrines. While they will not bar them from entry to their church, they can and should refuse to give them communion while they continue to sin.
Fr. Z’s interpretation seems as correct as the celebrant’s—not more correct, except in one instance. Fr. Z understands the state of Catholic education today; the celebrant may not. If the parents of the lesbian were devout, had sent all their childen to Catholic schools, and the lesbian had taught at a Catholic high school, the celebrant had ample reason to believe that she knew the state of her soul.
However, if one reads the letter of apology from the diocese (linked in the article), there is no mention of an infraction of Can 915. It does not mention Church law at all, nor the requirement for "obstinacy' on the part of the one denied communion. Instead, the apology is simply centered around the priest's supposed "lack of kindness".
IMHO, that is a complete non-issue in this case and renders the apology irrelevant.
This is exactly why, in this day and age, ALL priests and deacons MUST be current in their understanding of Canon 915.
As to who...I believe it was reported on Fr. S’s site that a third-party informed him of this right before the Mass.
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