“Some are asking whether the opposite could happen... whether the prayer could move the offender in a hallowed direction.”
With God all things are possible. I cannot imagine, though, that God needs us to be scandalized in order to work His will.
“If the context is such as that it looks like it’s on behalf of the church itself, being where he is, rather than on behalf of himself... then it would be scandal.”
Spot on. It’s very unusual for a non-Catholic to see this so clearly.
Often His will does look scandalous to mere men.
And, it appears, that it was arranged for him to sing his tribute at the gravesite, outside of the official church service.
I try to honor attempts to be religious towards God, even if they turn out to be wrong headed. Because I’d want God to be equally merciful to me if I turned out to have something wrong too.