The Roman Catholic Church gives lip service to treating LGBT individuals with dignity and compassion. Like so much that comes out of the Church, that story line is an outright lie and Church's actions and constant denigration of LGBT individuals speak far louder than disingenuously spoken words. Once in a while, the Church's true attitude comes through in such a blatant way that the shocked public reaction causes the bitter old men in dresses to rethink their actions. A case in point comes from San Diego, California, where the family of a gay business owner (pictured at left) was refused a Catholic funeral mass in a Catholic Church. Several media outlets picked up on the story and apparently the powers that be thought some PR damage control was in order. Hence the decision to allow the funeral after all. Personally, a Catholic Church is about the last place I'd want my funeral, but grieving should not be treated in the manner the Church first acted. Note that even as the Church reverses course, it likely is lying about how the PR disaster happened. Here are highlights from the San Diego Union-Tribune:*
A San Diego man’s Catholic funeral was moved from a church in Little Italy to a cemetery across town this week after a priest objected because the man was gay. For some, the situation evoked a 2005 incident when San Diego Bishop Robert Brom denied gay nightclub owner John McCusker a Catholic funeral, leading to a protest from the gay community and a subsequent apology from Brom.
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Tuesday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said in a statement that the funeral Mass for 70-year-old John Sanfilippo — who owned SRO Lounge, a gay hangout in Bankers Hill — “may take place.” The statement, from Chancellor Rodrigo Valdivia, said the person objecting to the initial funeral arrangements was “a visiting priest substituting during the pastor’s vacation” and “not familiar with local practice.”
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The funeral was scheduled at Our Lady of the Rosary in Little Italy, where Sanfilippo was raised in a family of fishermen. It will now occur Thursday morning at Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum.
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The refusal to hold a Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary prompted a small group of gay Catholics to gather outside the church Monday night to say the rosary and leave a note for the diocese seeking a clear policy on funeral Masses and last rites for Catholics who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.
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Among those six or eight people were Nicole Murray Ramirez, a member of the San Diego Human Relations Commission, and Tom Kirkman, former president of Dignity/San Diego, the local chapter of a national advocacy group for gay Catholics.
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“The church should make a statement and issue that statement to all parishes that to make a knee-jerk reaction to reject a person’s funeral just because that person is gay is not appropriate,” Kirkman said.
A San Diego man’s Catholic funeral was moved from a church in Little Italy to a cemetery across town this week after a priest objected because the man was gay. For some, the situation evoked a 2005 incident when San Diego Bishop Robert Brom denied gay nightclub owner John McCusker a Catholic funeral, leading to a protest from the gay community and a subsequent apology from Brom.
*
Tuesday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said in a statement that the funeral Mass for 70-year-old John Sanfilippo — who owned SRO Lounge, a gay hangout in Bankers Hill — “may take place.” The statement, from Chancellor Rodrigo Valdivia, said the person objecting to the initial funeral arrangements was “a visiting priest substituting during the pastor’s vacation” and “not familiar with local practice.”
*
The funeral was scheduled at Our Lady of the Rosary in Little Italy, where Sanfilippo was raised in a family of fishermen. It will now occur Thursday morning at Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum.
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The refusal to hold a Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary prompted a small group of gay Catholics to gather outside the church Monday night to say the rosary and leave a note for the diocese seeking a clear policy on funeral Masses and last rites for Catholics who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.
*
Among those six or eight people were Nicole Murray Ramirez, a member of the San Diego Human Relations Commission, and Tom Kirkman, former president of Dignity/San Diego, the local chapter of a national advocacy group for gay Catholics.
*
“The church should make a statement and issue that statement to all parishes that to make a knee-jerk reaction to reject a person’s funeral just because that person is gay is not appropriate,” Kirkman said.
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