Comments

1
That's pretty SOP for the Romans. And since Rome maintains that nobody else is a Christian (see "Dominus Iesus") you can't exactly paint all Christians with the roman brush.
2
What's the problem? He was just doing what he and millions of people were told to believe. Don't like it? Don't go to their church or donate money. You surely must know by now what priests are capable of doing.
3
According to this person, I guess Jesus would never give communion or baptize lepers, prostitutes, samaritans, etc.
4
I have yet to figure out why any Christian thinks they are exempt from Jesus' teachings, like "don't judge your neighbor", and "God created and loves everyone unconditionally". Just because you have become a priest, does not mean you are now some Holy Proxy Designated by God to Judge the World.

I am debating. Do I write a letter even though I am not Catholic? Would it even do any good?
5
The first Gentile baptised into Christianity was an Ethiopian Eunoch. Many people believe that Eunochs were not only men who were castrated, but also men who were not aroused by women. In other words, gay men. It is highly possible the first Gentile baptised into Christianity was a black gay man.

Now we have this crap.
6
@3 Jesus would never give communion. He'd just hold out his arm and say, "Take a bite."
7
The church really seems intent on killing itself by driving away all the normal people. Of all the kids I knew growing up in public school, only a handful still go to mass or have anything to do with the church. My sister is the only person I know who went to Catholic school and still goes to church.

As a "cultural Catholic" (I think that was Dan's term?) I'm sort of sad. It's like watching an eccentric Aunt slide into a mean, scary dementia.

The big irony, of course, is that the Catholic Church is the world's biggest closet case. It's the Liberace of religions. If it would just unclench a little (let women be priests, get rid of the celibacy requirement, stop covering up abuse and hating on gays, etc) and be proud of its campy self, it would probably be the fastest growing religion in the country.
8
Why did she agree to have the funeral at a catholic church? I don’t think the fault lies with the priest but rather the family who behaved so stupidly as to allow the Catholic Church to perform the ceremony.

The priest was being a priest. He was doing exactly what anyone would expect from a religious jackass. The woman and those who love her never should have set foot in that church or given the catholic church any power or control in the funeral. They allowed their mourning to be hijacked.

I am sorry to them, but you can’t expect a dog to behave any differently than a dog. You can’t expect a catholic priest to be anything but intolerant.
9
@8: My mother's funeral was at a Catholic church—because my mother was Catholic. See how that works? I sat in the front row, I took communion.

For a priest to storm out of a Catholic's funeral because he doesn't like that Catholic's child? Insanely offensive—not to the child, but to the (supposedly) eternal soul of the deceased Catholic.
10
@8 If you are a catholic you need a catholic funeral (including the graveside part he refused to do) to get into heaven. You can't expect people to abandon their belief system just to accommodate intolerant priests. Faith actually means something to the faithful.
11
I usually take the time to write "firm, civil" letters to bigots, but this particular case is a lost cause, and there's no way I could be civil. Fuck religion and religious people. I've spent 41 years tolerating its/their bigotry. I'm totally fucking sick of it.
12
feed him to the Lions
13
Opponents of gay rights often complain that this movement will ultimately lead to infingement of their religious freedom, for example by forcing them to perform rituals for gays. Proponents of gay rights often respond that they are free to be as discriminatory and bigoted as they want in their own church. And yet here is Dan attacking them for being discriminatory and bigoted in their own church, apparently proving their point.

Communion, by the way, is supposed to be reserved for those in good standing with the church.
14
@8 Allyn:

Maybe she was honoring her mother's wishes? We honor those we love. That honoring sometimes we subject ourselves to experiences we would not have chosen for ourselves. I think saying they allowed their mourning to by hijacked is a tad harsh. She's grieving her mother's death.

Also the arrangements may have been pre-arranged. Some make those decisions themselves so those who are left behind have less to deal with in their grief.
15
Dan, funerals are for the living, not the dead. It was your (family’s) choice to have the funeral at a catholic church. Would you have been shocked if the priest had refused to give you communion?
16
@6 ftw
17
he's just doing what his bishop/cardinal/pope ordered him to do - withhold the sacrement from sinners who have not confessed &/or are unrepentent. i'm sure he applies this refusal even-handedly to all unrepentant sinners.
18
Did the priest check for every divorcee and thief in the church and refuse their communion? Even if the priest considers the daughter to be a sinner, Catholics preach that everyone is a sinner. The priest just decided he wanted to single out homosexuality as being especially bad because of the current cultural environment.

He wasn't being a priest. He was being a politician. The Catholic hierarchy is getting so caught up in the culture war that they're not even Catholic anymore.
19
Not that I think it will change his mind, but I did write to Guarnizo. Yes, Catholics will be Catholics, but there are some who behave according to deeper truths (kindness, compassion) and would have had no problem giving communion and spiritual support to a grieving daughter regardless of her orientation. Anyway, here's my note :

"If what is being reported about you refusing communion to a woman at her mother's funeral, then walking out on her eulogy, is true, shame on you! Such behavior gives all Christians a bad name.
Homosexuality is a sin according to the Bible, but selling our daughters into slavery is not. We've adjusted our views on the slavery issue (or most of us have - perhaps you agree with slavery just because it's condoned in the Bible?) and it's high time we stop using the Bible to justify our bigotry against gays."
20
@14 Sure, Kim, but like David says in comment 13, communion is for Catholics in good standing. When I attend my father’s church, I don’t take communion because I know I don’t qualify and I don’t believe in it anyway - even though it looks bad that the pastor’s kid won’t take communion. (Sorry, Dad.)

Also, if he refused to perform the graveyard service because she was there, he was making the funeral about himself and his righteous indignation, not the deceased. That’s why I said the funeral was hijacked. He made it so that when people later thought about the service, they thought not of the deceased, but of his feelings about the daughter.

I am so sad to hear that this happened. I truly am. I wish that the catholic priest hadn’t thrown a hissy fit at this funeral. But he did. And people are expressing shock – SHOCK – at a priest behaving poorly. Really?!? How can that surprise anyone? Haven’t priests kinda been in the news a whole hell of a lot for behaving poorly?
21
@13 "Homosexuality is a sin according to the Bible", not if you read the text itself and don't bring your own prejudices to it. Take a closer look at those six supposed references.
22
I did not bother to email Guarnizo. I did email his boss:

Subject: Father Marcel Guarnizo is no representative of Jesus

The way Marcel Guarnizo treated a lesbian parishioner of yours at her mother's funeral (as detailed in this account: link) is not how Jesus teaches us to love one another.

The Roman Catholic Church has a reputation as a hateful, bigoted, uncaring institution, and this is why. You all should be ashamed.
23
Here's a video of the guy speaking about abortion. He screams total 'mo. He has the demeanor of "Stanford" from "Sex And The City". Time for the Maryland gays to out this guy.

http://vimeo.com/33235462
24
@10 wait. What? If the daughter were a faithful catholic, she would be a “recovered homosexual”. If the mother had been a devout catholic, she would have disowned her daughter. Are we all forgetting the tenets of the catholic church? They Hate Gays. That’s their thing.

So, if the mother loved and accepted her daughter and the daughter loved and accepted herself and the family loved and accepted the daughter’s partner, none of them truly believed the catholic church, so maybe the catholic heaven wasn’t for her anyway.
25
I can't be civil to these mongrels so I'm not gonna write.
26
@23, he reminds me of creepy stalker andrew shrivell.
27
Chances are good that he's gay, and he's especially mad about gay people who live openly and happily, because he feels it undermines all of his own struggles with his sexuality.
28
I wrote and i was almost civil.
29
I wrote. I'll let you know if I get anything back.
30
I am going to write, and I reposted to FB.
31
The priest doesn't get to decide whether the daughter receives communion or not. What he THINKS he knows about the daughter has no bearing. Primacy of conscience (see this comment thread) says that if the daughter, after careful consideration, believes she has done nothing "sinful" that might make her ineligible for communion, she needn't self-exclude. He must assume she has done so. Moreover, maybe she went to confession the night before with some other priest.

"Father" Guarnizo was an asshole, full stop. He didn't even follow his church's own rules. (See how that works, @13?)
32
@20: Sorry, Allyn. I mistakenly thought you were blaming the daughter. I couldn't see how blaming her for the actions of the priest was helpful. I misunderstood your, "They allowed their mourning to be hijacked". I apologize.
33
@11 - I'm with you 100%.
34
In what way is this unusual exactly? I was the best man for a Catholic buddy of mine's traditional Catholic wedding. I'm not a Catholic, so I was refused Communion. I knew this and the priest knew this and there's no hard feelings. Communion in a Catholic church is for those in good standing with the Church only. Get over it.
35
"If the mother had been a devout catholic, she would have disowned her daughter."

This is not true at all, like not even a little bit
36
This is the email I sent - I am posting here as a model of how to address this in a civil manner, just for those who said it wasn't possible.................................

Hello Father LaHood,

I just read the article, "Priest Walks Out of Woman's Funeral," posted here: (link)

I am dismayed that Father Guarnizo would deny the daughter communion on the assumption that she was an unconfessed sinner. She may well be, but typically Priests leave that between the person seeking communion and God rather than making those judgments themselves. Regardless, to walk out during the eulogy and then refuse to perform the rites at graveside is clearly outside the realm of Catholic doctrine, and violates the principles of basic human compassion and the expectations we have for one another on how to behave.

Perhaps in his own heart, Father Guarnizo feels somehow justified in his actions towards this woman. I trust that as his superior, you can counsel him that his views are incorrect, but even if you cannot convince him of this that you can persuade him that in the age of the Internet and social media, that there are no truly private acts and that news of his cruel behavior towards a grieving daughter is spreading across the American landscape. The vast majority are shocked and it will lower their opinion of the Catholic Church. Consequences of this may be reduction in contributions to Catholic charities, less support of public policies supported by the Church, and less support for Catholic candidates for public office.

I am part of a growing movement that is demanding that American Catholics stand up and proclaim the extreme conservative and backwards views of the Church be publicly challenged. It is hypocritical to insist that Muslims publicly decry the unconscionable actions of the extremists in their religion unless we insist on the same accountability from members in religions we are more familiar with. I would like to see you address the actions of Father Guarnizo to the members of your congregation and apologize to the woman whose mother was denied proper Catholic burial.

Yours truly,
37
"And now she will never set foot in a Catholic church again and who can blame her?"

Gays, Women & Children: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HATES YOU. This asshole-priest is just showing his true colors. It is a shame that he was rude to a woman who just lost her mother, but is anyone really surprised?? You know that book "He's Just Not That Into You?" I'm gonna write a CC version for women/gay Catholics who just can see that the church doesn't want them and doesn't like them. It is nothing more than a pedofile ring bent on keeping power. Dump The Mother Fuckers Already.
38
Technically, most people who receive communion at all are probably not eligible to anyway, by the official rules of the church: http://www.catholic.com/tracts/who-can-r…
39
Deep respect, @36.
40
Father Guarnizo,
How can you call yourself any kind of Christian when your actions are so antithetical to what Christ actually taught? Jesus never turned a sinner away from his table. Jesus taught us to love all people as he loved us. Jesus preached love. When you turn someone away from communion and turn your back on a grieving family during a funeral you are revealing yourself as a hateful bigot who clearly has no understanding whatsoever of Jesus and his teachings.

I was raised a Roman Catholic and was so devout as a child some of my family thought I might go into the priesthood. When I grew to an age that I started to learn about how the Catholic church was really run and learned that hateful bigots like yourself insisted on discriminating against people you don't like, rather than teaching the love of Jesus, I knew that the Catholic church was not for me. As an adult I have left the church taking with me my donations, volunteer time and support to give to organizations that actually follow the teachings of Christ whether they be religious or non-religious organizations. So long as people like you lead the Catholic church it will never receive any support of any kind from me.

Some day, hopefully soon, the last hateful, narrow minded bigots like yourself will die old and alone and leave the world, and the church, to people who actually understand the teachings of Jesus. I hope that some day your eyes will be opened to the true word of Jesus.
Former Catholic
CE
41
There is no one Catholic Church, even if that's what the politicians and Pope would have you believe. Just like no one political leader represents all constituents/ institution members.

Whoever said this was a politician, not a priest was spot on. There are plenty of branches of the Catholic Church and plenty of priests & nuns that live far more compassionate and loving lives than this asshole and who embrace, not condemn, homosexuality.

I've always thought that if I ever married someone who was very passionate about getting married in the Catholic Church (hard to imagine, but could be that cultural thing), than I would thoroughly screen any priest before trusting him to represent me before 'god' in that venue.

Dan, I'll have my 89-year-old, Mexican-grade Catholic grandmother sit down with me and tell this priest how very un-Catholic his actions were. She may not be outright with her barbs, but she's got a passive-aggressive streak that more than makes up for it. She's already declared Santorum not a Catholic and thought santorum was completely gross but funny. (She insisted I tell her the joke...)
42
I'm torn. I think it's good that people write to this guy and shame him for his sociopathic behavior.. calling in sick to a BURIAL at the last minute? But it's also true that he was 100% following the church's rules with the nonsense about the communion wafer, so I have some allegiance with the "Well, what did you expect?" side.

There comes a point at which people just have to stop going to Catholic churches and giving them money. I know it's important in people's lives, and that can seem unrealistic, but in the end it's an unhealthy relationship.

43
It's insensitive, even hateful, but neither shocking nor surprising. And this isn't an issue like the Pope's lies about condoms over which any outsider should bother getting up in arms: the outrage of a bunch of people who that religion considers intrinsically disordered isn't going to make a jot of difference to how this person conducts his business. In any case, like all religions, Catholicism will either change from within because a majority of Catholics want it to change, or will continue down its path of increasing irrelevance.
44
My Cathecism is so foggy. Are rosary jobs a sacrament?
45
Don't be Catholic. Why not find a religion to practice that isn't, you know, EVIL? Why is that so hard?
46
This is going to be a real time saver for Westboro Baptist. Instead of protesting at funerals themselves, they can just exchange a few emails with the local church and have the officiating priest stalk off in protest. Win win for the "God Hates Fags" crowd!
47
Here is my effort (I am a practising Catholic @45 because like others who have suffered injustice, leaving does not repair the injustice, it just lets it fester. It is not an easy road, just ask other human rights defenders.):

Dear Fr. Marcel Guarnizo,

When approaching the altar, we are all sinners. The single, the divorced, the separated, the widowed, the children, the professed: every one a sinner.

One of the great graces of the Eucharist is that it brings us as a Church family together as one, as broken as we are.

I would never refuse anyone coming with a true heart to communion; I even served communion to Protestants at my sister's wedding because the gesture was genuine.

Your refusal of communion to Barbara's daughter was shameful and you should ask forgiveness because of your own blindness.

I will pray that you will come to true communion with the Jesus of love, compassion and inclusion.

Your sister in Christ,

Louise Lafond, BTh.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
48
My letter. This lady is a friend of mine, a fine and giving teacher. I am bereft, but not surprised. Thanks for posting this Dan.

Fr. Guarnizo,

Would you allow Newt Gingrich to accept Holy Communion at your church?

Why wouldn't you allow XXXXXX(at her mothers funeral to boot)?

Are you her confessor? Do you know what state her soul is in with our Lord?

Did you make assumptions or do you have a camera in her house?

Even if you do, who are you here to serve? If you are here to serve God and not man I think you might have to reconsider your vocation. And if it is the other way around, you most certainly have some rethinking to do.

How many adulterers do you administer the Eucharist to any given Sunday?
How could you know? Because they haven't confessed? Your presumptions are beyond appalling.

Do you think all the two child families in your pews have become celibate? You probably should cover the chalice for them and their wives/husbands as well. Don't you think? Since birth control is just as sinful as whatever it is that made you refuse the Host to Barbara? Or don't I have my sinfulness meter in order? Is one worse than the other (whatever the other is)? I really need an answer to that question. As does the vast majority of your fecund female flock.

Congratulations on cementing another cradle Catholic's departure from the Church.
I spent the weekend sobbing about this.

Good work and God bless. You don't deserve it though, at least not after this weekend.
49
@48 Nice alliteration! "fecund female flock"
50
@ 47, my niece died in a terrible accident with 4 other teens. Classmates were bussed to the funerals. Many of the kids taking Communion didn't know whether to put the Host in their mouth or their pocket but the priests didn't stop handing it out. That was certainly not the correct thing to do from a Church standpoint but it was correct from a Christian standpoint as I see it. I stopped receiving Communion for a number of years until I was ready to approach the altar on the Catholic Church's rules. But I'm over it now. We are done
51
@24 that is a lot of "ifs" Any argument that requires more than three is worthless. Real Catholics will tell you that the rules are just a suggestion and this sort of fanaticism on the part of the priest is not how the church really works. No one quits the church for how their children are treated. But, they still need the proper blessings to go to heaven.
52
@51 that was three exactly. Two in the argument and one to sum it up.

Look, you wrote “If you are a catholic you need a catholic funeral (including the graveside part he refused to do) to get into heaven. You can't expect people to abandon their belief system just to accommodate intolerant priests. Faith actually means something to the faithful.” And I was responding that she may have already abandoned her strict belief system, just by accepting her daughter.

I don’t understand why someone would be part an organization that would condemn and actively persecute their child, but that was her decision.
53
1. The Church DOES maintain that homosexual acts are a sin, so I can see why a priest would decline to perform a RELIGIOUS ritual, like giving the host, to a gay person. The man probably knew it was bad manners, but he probably considered his religious beliefs to be more important. This isn't about whether the Church should have to pay for what its employees do out in the world; it's about what a priest must, must not, any may do in a church during a strictly religious ceremony.

However, to my knowledge, there is nothing that requires him to so rudely leave the altar while a sinner (or "sinner") gives the eulogy.

2. However, if he was going to refuse to give the final blessing, he should have told the family in advance so that they could choose a different priest or minister.
54
@52, we aren't required to understand each other, just to be loving and accepting of each other. We have to draw the line of acceptance where people start to hurt others. So I have no problems with Catholics (or any person of any faith) as long as they act in a positive way toward others. Everyone has a right to make their own choices for their own reasons. The priest, by his actions was going out of his way to harm others, including a dead woman. That is way across the line, and is unacceptable.
55
Sorry, Kim, but that doesn't work. You can't tell someone that any 'hurtful behavior' is unacceptable. People get their feelings hurt all the time. If an atheist couple is hurt that their parents' priest won't marry them...too fucking bad. The priest is fully entitled to turn them away because he does not feel they qualify for a Catholic sacrament.

Look, I do not like the Catholic church. I am not a Christian. But religious people have the right to do things in their own rituals that I think are backwards, hateful, and cruel. Given the history of refusing communion to others and the whole 'good standing in the church' thing, it's unclear who is bending the rules: the nice priests who give communion to gay couples and non-Catholics, or the mean ones who deny it to those who are openly gay or openly using birth control, blah blah blah. He may be an asshole but he may also be a very good Catholic.

I will fight religious jerks to the end when they try to infringe on my government-sanctioned rights, but outside of that they can do their thing the way they want to do it.
56
@50 schweeny. I hear you, I am so sorry for your friend's loss and how she was treated. If only the RC Church could be so genuine all the time, like at your niece's funeral. I am not yet done, I refuse to quit until they kick me out, but I understand and respect your done-ness.
57
poor Danny continues to confuse catholicism with christianity
58
@55 It would have been one thing if the priest had refused ahead of time to allow the family to find another officiant. But to make a scene over the deceased's daughter during the funeral is another manner. Yeah, he had the right to do so. But that doesn't mean we can judge him to be a bad priest and a bad Christian. Or register complaints with his superiors.

After all, some minorly important Christian figure once said: "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. // Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will give him a stone? // Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? // If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matt. 7.8–11)

-Bruce
59
I'm sure Father Guarnizo isn't anti homo when he's %&#@$ the alter boys.
60
@23 - You've got that right - he's as gay as a $3 bill that's fucking another $3 bill up the ass.

Somehow I bet that if it were a gay son instead of a daughter, he would not only give him the Jesus cookie, but he'd make sure that his fingers brushed the boys lips while he stared into his eyes meaningfully.
61
Dear Father Guarnizo,

I recently read Ann Werner's piece detailing your behavior at the funeral of one of her friends, specifically, your behavior towards her lesbian daughter, and I am horrified.

Let me say, right off the bat, I have no interest whatsoever in lecturing you or arguing with you about whether homosexuality is a sin. It could be the most egregious of sins and your behavior towards the deceased woman's daughter at her time of mourning would still be disgraceful. I don't understand how it is possible for someone like you to grow up with the scriptures, devote his life to Jesus Christ, and yet show such a poor understanding of the principles He taught.

Jesus never passed up an opportunity to show sinners, the sick, the hated and the outcast unconditional love, acceptance and forgiveness. This was especially true in situations where many were watching him and he could provide an example. Are you so blind to the realities of how this kind of love SHOULD play out in a modern world and how you SHOULD be trying to model your behavior?

Shame on you. Your priorities are in the wrong place. I only pray God will warm your heart.
62
@55 - It's a FUNERAL. I'm sorry, but there are different rules for a funeral. You respect the religion and religious wishes of the deceased (as best you know how), but any religious organization should understand that a funeral is a time to respect all comers WHILE conducting your service. They don't get another chance to pay their last respects to their loved ones.

Pastors and priests who are much too full of themselves have a nasty habit of telling the family of the deceased one thing when they're making the plans for the service, then letting their true colors show once the service has started. At this point, they should be treated like a business cheating and insulting their customers...and at a fucking critical and sensitive time!
63
@26 That's what I thought!
64
#60, that's what I thought, after taking one look at him in the video outside the abortion clinic. It's hopeless to write to him, because he's psychotic, or just deeply disturbed emotionally, and what has "deeply disturbed" him is the requirement to suppress his sexuality. My "gaydar" tells me this, as yours does. However, it is not necessary to forgive his behaviour; there have been many good "gay" priests who have not taken their pain out on others, and who managed to love many in a fashion commisserate with their vow of chastity. This guy is primarily a politician, not a priest, and no appeals to Christ's teachings are going to work with him. So letter-writing (except maybe to his much higher superiors) is not going to modify his behaviour.
65
If a gift check to the parish was was written, stop payment on it.
66
The priest's behavior is unforgivable and not Christ-like. When Jesus blessed the children, he didn't separate those born out of wedlock from the rest. He blessed them all.

When will Christians start to act like Christ?

If it wasn't for the way I was raised, I'm not sure I would still be a Christian now.
67
And now she will never set foot in a Catholic church again and who can blame her?
And now she will never set foot in a Catholic church again and who can blame her?
And now she will never set foot in a Catholic church again and who can blame her?
Repeated on purpose!
Can't people "believe" the outrageous Superstitions -- or be moved by the powerful imagery and ceremony, I guess the same thing -- either by themselves at home, or else find a Progressive congregation of Catholics away from the Vatican, many of which do exist worldwide? or communicate with other believers on the Internet, for example, if they want company and friendship?
After many stories such as the above, and historical Facts such as the Holy Inquisition, kidnapped native children in abusive forced boarding schools, burning witches and heretics and homosexuals, condoning and advocating Crusades and Pogroms and Slavery and Fascist Dictatorships, banning books of modern science, and other horrors literally too numerous to mention -- who in good conscience could still GIVE THEIR MONEY to this ROTTEN institution, even one single red cent?! Doesn't the Evil, in any ethical summation, far, far, far outweigh any social or personal "good"?
Can a person claim to be "good" and "moral" and still support this greedy Cabal with MONEY -- money that could go to help the poor and Good Causes, if you've got it to spare; instead of being funneled to anti-homosexual propaganda and politics?????
The "good" priests and nuns and catholics, are either excommunicated, or they HAVE TO OBEY the shamelessly corrupt Vatican Hierarchy.....
I don't get it, really I don't..... How the Church can last even another day.....
68
What despicable behavior. Mr Guarnizo is certainly the kind of Pharisee that Jesus said so much about. The fact that he doesn't recognize this fact is, as it were, the frosting on the cake.

So many people confuse religion and personal squicks.
69
@64, i think you mean 'commensurate', not commiserate'.
70
Here the letter I sent. I had to wait until today because I was too angry to write yesterday.

Father Marcel Guarnizo,
I read with growing shock and horror the behavior you displayed at the recent funeral of a local parishioner. Instead of expressing Christ's love and compassion for all you turned coldly from them like the pharisees Jesus had rebuked. Instead of offering comfort to a grieving family, you acted like a petulant child.

What did you think you would gain from such a stunt? Did you wish to impress the congregation with your defense of unbending dogma? You were not a disciple of Christ, you choose to act the hypocrite; have you barred the adulterer, the divorced or the convicted thief from your church as well?

Your appalling show of insensitivity will do no good and the church will lose more followers. Hopefully they will only lose their faith in the Roman Catholic Church and not in God. Being good Christians I suspect the people you offended will show more mercy than you. You should be ashamed and apologize to the family.
71
I wrote to him: "You are not a Christian. You may wear the robes, but you certainly do not follow Christ. I can't imagine anything less Christ-like than what you did at that funeral. Jesus spent time with prostitutes and tax collectors, and he welcomed them as brothers and sisters.

Your heart is clearly full of hate, not love."
72
Jesus sure spent a lot of time condemning greed, and not one word about Teh Gayz. So I'm assuming Father Self-Righteous makes sure to cover the chalice when any of the Cargo Cult-type Christians approach the altar, and refuses Holy Communion to those who practice usury.

I'm with Catalina. The Church is cutting its own throat, and I can only stand by and shake my head sadly. There ARE good things about the Catholic Church, really there are - but they sure are hard to pick out these days with all this bullshit.
73
Burial isn't a sacrament. Eucharist is. They didn't need a priest at the church or at the gravesite. Only for the Eucharist. Refusing to serve the daughter in public with no warning is bad manners at best, cruel and inhumane at least. A loving priest, a pastor of souls would have told the daughter before the services started that HE could not in good conscience give her a host. He could have offered to give her a blessing instead, so that she could have a burial mass for her mother and feel a part of the communion crowd. But he did not. This man could have been, should have been tossed out on his rude, uncaring ass. He is lucky I was not there in the church. I would have slapped him silly. If someone is gonna hijack a funeral, it is gonna be THIS nasty evil bitch of a silly Kaween!
74
Father Guarnizo,

I want to express my deep sadness and disappointment in your recent actions at a funeral you helped to officiate. Your behavior in denying a deceased woman's daughter, who might have been a lesbian, communion was inappropriate and un-christ-like. Why would you have made such a disgraceful statement in front of all of those mourners. Could you not, at the very least, have spoken to the daughter prior to mass and discussed your concerns and if they were true, have asked her only to have a blessing rather than the eucharist? I am outraged that you did not have the decency and respect to stay through the eulogy. All people, whether or not YOU view them as sinners, deserve respect. I am disgusted that you are a public representative of the church. You should be ashamed of yourself.



Andrea
75
For those wondering why she would agree to let the service be held in a Catholic church, it reminds me of my father's passing. I had not stepped through the doors of a church in 12 years (I was 23 when he died), and could care less about organized religion. However, I felt he would want me to honor his mother so I agreed to a Mass. And, what a mistake that was. Fire and brimstone! Blah Blah Blah. I started cracking jokes under my breath to my grieving little brother is was so full of crap. This "father" had never met my father. Just preaching this drivel. Afterwards, my aunt comes up to me and says she is ashamed at my actions, how un-christian it was and how my father would be disappointed in me. I looked at her and said "Welp, guess those three divorces, your kicking out your adopted son because he's gay, and the fact that you have an adopted son because you are probably the most frigid cunt I have ever met is completely christian. Now if you don't mind, consider yourself not part of my family, because I'm 100% sure my father is proud of me for saying this all to you."
76
He was afraid she was going to out him! She's all out and proud and unapologetic (I saw her on the local news).
Like, she'll see him up there at the alter in front of everyone, and will go, "hey, Girlfriend. I see your gay ass up there trying real hard to look straight."

He's afraid she's going to blow his cover; that's all it is.
77
dan, honey, time to give father guarnizo the 'santorum' treatment.
78
"And now she will never set foot in a Catholic church again and who can blame her?"

Well I would hope not!

Why do people not boycott them already?
79
In a time of need, you were not very Christ like.

I believe your first concerns should be with Love, Wisdom, & Compassion for the people to whom you are in contact. If you can't do that, than you should have excused yourself prior to officiating at this ceremony.

Here is a short quote from the Dali Lama. One which you should aspire too.

"It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them."

Respectfully yours,
80
http://tinyurl.com/7l3d25f
Link to interview that Barbara (the woman that was denied the Host) did with Lawrence O'Donnell last nigt.
Very composed. Also response of the Archdiocese.

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