The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York condemned the funeral of a transgender neighborhood chief that was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Thursday, calling the occasion an insult to the Catholic religion and saying it was unaware of the id of the deceased — or her vocal atheism — when it agreed to host the service.
The funeral, which drew properly over 1,000 individuals, celebrated the lifetime of Cecilia Gentili, an activist and actress well-known for her advocacy on behalf of intercourse staff, transgender individuals and folks residing with H.I.V. She was additionally a self-professed atheist, a subject round which she constructed a one-woman Off Broadway present.
The service on Thursday was an occasion that almost definitely had no precedent in Catholic historical past. The pews have been full of mourners, lots of them transgender, who wore daring high-fashion outfits and cheered as eulogists led them in praying for transgender rights and entry to gender-affirming well being care.
One eulogy, a video clip of which was extensively shared on-line Friday, remembered Ms. Gentili as “Saint Cecilia, the mom of all whores,” to the thunderous cheers of a virtually full cathedral.
Catholic liberals, together with some parishioners at St. Patrick’s, mentioned that no matter how some mourners behaved, the church had executed an excellent factor by internet hosting the funeral of a transgender individual. However the response from conservatives was fiery.
CatholicVote, a conservative group, referred to as the funeral “unbelievable and sick” and mentioned it was “a mockery of the Christian religion.” The Rev. Nicholas Gregoris, a co-founder of the Priestly Society of Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman, referred to as it “revolting,” a “blasphemous & sacrilegious fiasco” and “a deplorable desecration of America’s most well-known Catholic Church.”
On Saturday, the archdiocese launched a press release saying it shared the anger of conservative Catholics over what it referred to as “the scandalous conduct” at Ms. Gentili’s funeral. The Rev. Enrique Salvo, the pastor of St. Patrick’s, mentioned the church was not conscious of Ms. Gentili’s background or beliefs when it agreed to host the service.
“The cathedral solely knew that household and buddies have been requesting a funeral Mass for a Catholic, and had no concept our welcome and prayer could be degraded in such a sacrilegious and misleading method,” the pastor mentioned.
The funeral’s organizer, Ceyenne Doroshow, mentioned on Thursday that Ms. Gentili’s household had stored her background “beneath wraps” as a result of they feared the archdiocese wouldn’t host a funeral for an individual it knew was transgender.
Ms. Doroshow mentioned the household wished Ms. Gentili’s funeral to be at St. Patrick’s as a result of “it’s an icon, identical to her.”
On Saturday, the Gentili household was incensed by the church’s criticism and accused the archdiocese of “hypocrisy and anti-trans hatred” in a press release.
The household mentioned the L.G.B.T.Q. neighborhood would proceed to have a good time Ms. Gentili for a way she “ministered, mothered and cherished all individuals.”
“Her coronary heart and palms reached these the sanctimonious church continues to belittle, oppress and chastise,” the household mentioned. “The one deception current at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is that it claims to be a welcoming place for all.”
The day earlier than the funeral, the archdiocese described the service as a routine occasion, even after it was knowledgeable by a reporter that Ms. Gentili was a transgender activist.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for the archdiocese, Joseph Zwilling, mentioned that “a funeral is among the corporal works of mercy,” part of Catholic educating the church has described as “a mannequin for a way we must always deal with all others, as in the event that they have been Christ in disguise.”
However on Saturday, Father Salvo mentioned within the assertion that the cathedral had held a particular Mass of Reparation to atone for the funeral. Mr. Zwilling mentioned the occasion occurred that day.
“That such a scandal occurred at ‘America’s parish church’ makes it worse,” Father Salvo mentioned, referring to the funeral. “That it happened as Lent was starting, the annual 40-day wrestle with the forces of sin and darkness, is a potent reminder of how a lot we’d like the prayer, reparation, repentance, grace and mercy to which this holy season invitations us.”
New York Metropolis is residence to roughly a dozen gay-friendly Catholic parishes that in some ways replicate the church’s softer tone on sexuality beneath the management of Pope Francis. However St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the seat of the highly effective archdiocese, is just not considered one of them.
Ms. Gentili, who died on Feb. 6 at age 52, had a posh relationship with faith, which she explored final yr in her Off Broadway present, “Crimson Ink.”
After a spiritual upbringing, Ms. Gentili mentioned in an interview final yr, she got here to determine as an atheist as a result of she felt rejected by so many Christian denominations as a transgender lady.
“I used to go along with my grandmother to the Baptist Church, they usually didn’t need me there,” she mentioned, including: “I used to go to the Catholic Church, too, and each have been such traumatic experiences for me as a queer individual. So I got here to determine as an atheist, however I do know that so many trans individuals have been capable of finding a relationship with religion in areas that embody them.”
