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Catholic conservatism on the rise as priest refuses funeral for 'sinner'
The Times ^ | 7/22/05 | Richard Owen

Posted on 07/21/2005 11:10:46 PM PDT by Crackingham

A parish priest has refused to give an Italian woman a Christian funeral because she had “lived in sin”. Father Giuseppe Mazzotta, parish priest at Marcellinara, near Catanzaro in Calabria, said that he had denied a Christian funeral to Maria Francesca Tallarico, who died of breast cancer at the age of 45, because she had lived with her partner but never married him. Her partner was separated and had an 11-year-old daughter.

“She lived with her lover, so she was a public sinner,” Father Mazzotta said. “I decided not to celebrate an official Mass for this woman, who was not in communion with the Church.”

Father Mazzotta said that he had performed the liturgy of absolution for the dead. He added that he was close to the dead woman’s family and had offered them “words of comfort”.

Father Antonio Sciortino, the Editor of Famiglia Cristiana, a popular Catholic magazine, accused Father Mazzotta of “excessive zeal”. Mario Paraboschi, a local councillor, said that he was perplexed. Father Mazzotta said that his action carried a message: “Marriage is a sacrament. We cannot simply pretend.”

The priest’s decision has underlined the growing power of conservative Catholicism in Italy. The liberal and secular Left is increasingly alarmed by the return to “Catholic values” in politics and everyday life, which has clear implications for the general election, due next May.

Yesterday Romano Prodi, the leader of the opposition Centre Left, who hopes to oust the ruling Centre-Right coalition of Silvio Berlusconi, came under fire from the Church and the Right for suggesting that he would follow “the French example” and recognise homosexual “civil unions” if he were returned to power.

Signor Prodi said that he would not go so far as Spain and legalise gay marriage, but Il Giornale, the conservative newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family, said that that was the logical next step.


TOPICS: Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: catanzaro; catholic; dumbideas; funeral; funeralrite; goodpriest; italy; priest; rite; riteoffuneral
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To: Crackingham
I realize there are some repeats in here -- Search for funeral:

1684 The Christian funeral is a liturgical celebration of the Church. The ministry of the Church in this instance aims at expressing efficacious communion with the deceased, at the participation in that communion of the community gathered for the funeral, and at the proclamation of eternal life to the community.


 
1685 The different funeral rites express the Paschal character of Christian death and are in keeping with the situations and traditions of each region, even as to the color of the liturgical vestments worn.


 
1688 The liturgy of the Word during funerals demands very careful preparation because the assembly present for the funeral may include some faithful who rarely attend the liturgy, and friends of the deceased who are not Christians. The homily in particular must "avoid the literary genre of funeral eulogy" and illumine the mystery of Christian death in the light of the risen Christ.


 
1686 The Order of Christian Funerals (Ordo exsequiarum) of the Roman liturgy gives three types of funeral celebrations, corresponding to the three places in which they are conducted (the home, the church, and the cemetery), and according to the importance attached to them by the family, local customs, the culture, and popular piety. This order of celebration is common to all the liturgical traditions and comprises four principal elements:


 
1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them," allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.


 
335 In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God. She invokes their assistance (in the funeral liturgy's In Paradisum deducant te angeli. . .["May the angels lead you into Paradise. . ."]). Moreover, in the "Cherubic Hymn" of the Byzantine Liturgy, she celebrates the memory of certain angels more particularly (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and the guardian angels).



81 posted on 07/22/2005 8:42:57 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: balch3; topher
balch3: I'm not Catholic, and they can do what they want. But with that said, I don't much like what this priest did.

I'm not Catholic either, but I totally agree with the priest. A person who lives a blatantly anti-Christian lifestyle should not be accorded the dignity of a Christian funeral. By giving them a Christian funeral you are claiming them as "one of ours", which gives validation to their sin.

This reminds me of the passage that instructs us not to associate with someone who is called a Christian brother, yet is a fornicator or other notorious sinner. By shunning/disfellowshipping/excommunicating them (until they repent), you are upholding God's holy standard. Conversely, to treat them as "brothers" defames God's name in the eyes of the world: "See, that person is a fornicator and the other Christians accept him! So it must be okay."

I think that giving an unrepentant sinner a Christian funeral falls in the same category. Unless, of course, the preacher has the guts to say, "This man went to HELL! And you will too, unless ye repent...."

82 posted on 07/22/2005 8:50:31 AM PDT by Rytwyng
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To: topher
Most Catholics are not very good with the Bible...

Careful now.

83 posted on 07/22/2005 10:04:04 AM PDT by Romish_Papist (The times are out of step with the Catholic Church. God Bless Pope Benedict XVI.)
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To: HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
Just a brief fact check: Didn't Jackie Kennedy get a posh funeral Mass in St. Ignatius in Manhattan after living with a guy out of wedlock for a number of years before she died? Is the rule in America (or, ahem, New Yawk) that you are allowed one illicit living "in sin" situation? Or did she offer a sincere Confession within the deadline for the Archd of NY?

No, it just means there are lax priests, bishops, etc.
84 posted on 07/22/2005 10:34:20 AM PDT by Conservative til I die
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To: balch3; ninenot; sittnick
Another propaganda opportunity directed at those of us who are Catholic and have not the slightest interest in the manifest errors of the propagandist.

As you say, you are not Catholic. We Catholics certainly can do what we want and need no permission to do so from those outside the Church. Most Catholics have the manners to refrain from butting into your fantasies and suggesting how your church (if you have one) ought to govern itself or conduct its own business. You ought to behave likewise.

One thing I guarantee you is that you are right in imagining that you will be very surprised if and when you reach heaven.

Believe as you see fit. God is merciful as well as just. He gave you free will and will probably credit your sincerity. Still and all, it is three or four yards and a cloud of dust from age of reason to death and not the old (you should pardon the expression) Hail Mary pass play once and once only at, say 18 years of age, of accepting, etc. that will get you to heaven if you get there. Just a little counterpropaganda and truth that you don't want to hear in response to the usual stale and erroneous anti-Catholic propaganda which adequately catechized Catholics chuckle at hearing every time.

If you are still breathing, you are not yet saved. Christ has offered you the merits of His suffering and death of the Cross and you will be saved if you die in a state of grace. Free will is a gift of God and that gift persists until your death. A book, even THE book, and a few reading lessons notwithstanding, your theology leaves much to be desired. No one died and left every Tom, Dick and Harriet with the capacity to read whatever "translation" of the Bible through the prism of an agenda and a half to avoid the truth a theological authority. If it were otherwise, there would be one Protestant church and not ten thousand squabbling sects, each with its own wrinkle on the meaning of God's Word.

Henceforth, MYOB. If we need your advice, we will be sure to ask. Don't hold your breath waiting.

85 posted on 07/22/2005 10:36:00 AM PDT by BlackElk (Dean of Discipline of the Tomas de Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
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To: TomSmedley
The most powerful sermon I ever heard on God's grace came from a Baptist pulpit. The deceased, a member, was about to go on trial for molesting another member, a child. On the appointed court date, he phoned the police to report a gunshot in his back yard ...

The text was Romans 8:1,2 and the message was that salvation was God's free gift to the undeserving -- such as the deceased. Such as you and me.

And we have to make the choice to accept that gift. Unrepentant child molestors don't. And thus they burn and rot in Hell for eternity. Just as they deserve.
86 posted on 07/22/2005 10:36:25 AM PDT by Conservative til I die
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To: TomSmedley
Italian families are averaging 1.3 kids, I think. Loss of faith -> loss of hope -> loss of charity -> extinction.

The only alternative is a revival of Biblical and fecund Christianity.

Agreed, let's hope they come home to the Catholic Church.
87 posted on 07/22/2005 10:37:48 AM PDT by Conservative til I die
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To: WhiteGuy
I guess the family didn't pay the expected tribute....... or

Try not to be an idiot. Seriously.
88 posted on 07/22/2005 10:41:17 AM PDT by Conservative til I die
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To: Hugin
Catholics make themselves right by and through Christ.

Jesus established the Authority of the Church (leadership) himself here on earth, not only the Bible. So the other Christian faiths do well in accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior for their salvation, but without the established authority of Christ, they are floating aimlessly in other ways...
89 posted on 07/22/2005 10:42:03 AM PDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: hispanichoosier

Also, I believe Keating mentions that it has something to do with back in the Roman Empire, when Catholics were routinely burned to death, i.e. turned to ash.


90 posted on 07/22/2005 10:42:45 AM PDT by Conservative til I die
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To: Crackingham

To be fair, if sinning disqualifies a person from a Catholic funeral, I don't think any of us Catholics would qualify for one...


91 posted on 07/22/2005 10:43:44 AM PDT by HitmanLV
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To: Conservative til I die
Agreed, let's hope they come home to the Catholic Church.

Some people raising funds for a new organ at the local Catholic church knocked on D. L. Moody's door. The noted fundamentalist preacher surprised everyone by making a generous contribution. He explained, "I'd rather my neighbors were Catholic Christians than not Christian at all. And if they're going to be singing God's praises, I'd rather they had the means to do it well!"

The last century's greatest American calvinist theologian, R. J. Rushdoony, gave Pius X credit for erecting the doctrine of papal infallibility as a firewall against the corrosive assults of "modernism." This bulwark held, he said, for nearly a century, all the way 'til Vatican II. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I pray that Catholic faithful will have the grace to kiss off (flush out) the apostates, and soberly rebuild their Christian civilizations.

Meanwhile, I'm investing in protestant missions to Europe.

92 posted on 07/22/2005 10:46:47 AM PDT by TomSmedley (Calvinist, optimist, home schooling dad, exuberant husband, technical writer)
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To: balch3; ninenot; sittnick

Balch3: I posted #85 before reading your #41. Please accept my apology for my misunderstanding.


93 posted on 07/22/2005 11:12:17 AM PDT by BlackElk (Dean of Discipline of the Tomas de Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
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To: Crackingham

In theory I agree with the priest in this situation. To hold a public church funeral for a woman who openly lived in sin with a married man and showed no signs of repentence would be very inappropriate. The problem with this kind of sanction is that it seems very arbitrary and inconsistent. Many people will see it as the big bad Church picking on some poor woman who died of cancer at a young age, while church funerals are allowed for other manifest sinners, especially the rich and powerful (e.g. various Kennedys) This causes scandal as well. The problem lies in the fact that the decision about whether or not to hold a funeral is made by the local priest and bishop. Unfortunately many priests and bishops will never do what this priest did. They are too spineless or simply do not believe the Church's teachings on sin and the afterlife. Thus you have inconsistency throughout the Church. To people who are not Catholic or who are poorly formed in their Catholic faith, this is very confusing. The message that the Church intends to send when it denies a funeral to a public sinner is lost and in the end the Church just looks mean-spirited and hypocritical.


94 posted on 07/22/2005 11:38:15 AM PDT by sassbox
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To: redgolum
Out of curiosity, when is cremation allowed in the Catholic Church?
In addition to the reasons already given, cremation is allowed when the body is sent to another state for burial. For example, after my brother's funeral in New York, my sister-in-law had his body cremated, and the "cremains" (that's what the funeral director called them!) were sent to New Hampshire for internment in the family plot.
95 posted on 07/22/2005 12:22:02 PM PDT by eastsider
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To: Conservative til I die

Lighten up, Francis


96 posted on 07/22/2005 12:29:52 PM PDT by WhiteGuy (Vote for gridlock - Make the elected personally liable for their wasteful spending)
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To: balch3
From a Catholic perspective the funeral is NOT for the
benefit of the surviving friends and relatives primarily,
but for the deceased, who we believe is NOT beyond help.
Indeed, it is already fixed whether the deceased is damned
or saved. But how much purification he must undergo (in purgatory) before entering heaven can be affected. By the way, the practice of praying for the dead goes back to Old Testament Judaism and was continued by the early Christians. We see evidence of this in the Old Testament. (Even if the books of Maccabees were non-canonical, as believed by Protestants, they still would have value as historical evidence of the beliefs and practices of Jews in the centuries before Christ.) Jews continue to pray for the dead to this day, as they have for over two thousand years. The early Christians also prayed for the dead, as anyone knows who has read St. Augustine's confessions. There is very early evidence of Christian prayer for the dead. The Protestant refusal to pray for the dead was an innovation and had no precedent in Christian history.
97 posted on 07/22/2005 12:59:42 PM PDT by smpb (smb)
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To: tob2

Had Hitler died after the War and his relatives asked for a Catholic funeral, should he have been given one? For someone who has lived scandalously and never repented, a public funeral is somewhat of a mockery. Should a mafioso who was an active and unrepentant criminal until hs death be given a Catholic funeral? No.


98 posted on 07/22/2005 1:04:09 PM PDT by smpb (smb)
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To: fabrizio
2/ those who chose the cremation of their bodies for reasons contrary to Christian faith; >>

How was JFK, Jr.'s remains cremated and spread out at sea off a US Naval ship? I thought cremated remains had to be buried in a consecrated catholic cemetery.
99 posted on 07/22/2005 1:26:34 PM PDT by Coleus (Roe v. Wade and Endangered Species Act both passed in 1973, Murder Babies/save trees, birds, algae)
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To: Coleus

The Kennedy family asked their family priest, and she ok'd it ...


100 posted on 07/22/2005 1:29:41 PM PDT by eastsider
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