Trump ERA: Queer Catholics In Wisconsin May Be Denied Religious Funerals To Avoid Public Scandal

[riversedge]

10/24/2017 01:13 pm ET
Queer Catholics In Wisconsin May Be Denied Religious Funerals To Avoid ‘Public Scandal’

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/queer-catholics-in-wisconsin-may-be-denied-religious-funerals-to-avoid-public-scandal_us_59ee59b4e4b003385ac15bcb?section=us_queer-voices


Newly leaked guidelines also instruct priests to ban the surviving partner from even being mentioned during the service.

Directives from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison instruct priests to consider banning the surviving same-sex partner from loved ones’ religious funerals.

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A leaked set of directives attributed to a Roman Catholic diocese in Madison, Wisconsin, is reminding queer Catholics that, in both life and in death, they can be shunned by their church.

The Vicar General of the Diocese of Madison, the Rev. Msgr. James R. Bartylla, reportedly sent an email to priests in the diocese that included guidelines on how to handle the funeral services of queer Catholics.

According to a copy of the email, first published on the Catholic blog Pray Tell on Oct. 22, Bartylla encouraged priests to focus on minimizing “the risk of scandal and confusion” when asked to conduct the funeral service of a person in a “notorious homosexual relationship.” The email then reportedly listed several factors the priest should take into account when considering whether or not to conduct the religious rite.


http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2017/10/22/bishop-morlino-on-funerals-involving-a-notorious-homosexual-union/

“Was the deceased or the ‘partner’ a promoter of the ‘gay’ lifestyle?” the leaked email asked priests to consider. “Did the deceased give some signs of repentance before death?”......................................



“If the situation warrants ... ecclesiastical funeral rites may be denied for manifest sinners in which public scandal of the faithful can’t be avoided,” the guidelines state, according to Pray Tell.
......

While the email is not official church policy, Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s approval is a reflection of the hardened stance that some U.S. bishops are taking against American Catholics’ growing acceptance of queer love and relationships.
Isabella Carapella

Queer Catholics are expressing their outrage over the directives. Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of the Catholic LGBTQ advocacy group DignityUSA, said that the guidelines were “outrageous and shameful.”

“This document is the very antithesis of pastoral care,” Duddy-Burke said in a statement. ..................................

Similar directives have been issued in the past. In June, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, instructed priests to deny Communion and funeral rites to people in same-sex unions who haven’t shown “repentance.”



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[CurtEastPoint]

1. FWIW, I've written to this 'vicar' and to the bishop, excoriating them. In a nice way, of course.

As a Catholic, I find this appalling. Beyond appalling.

[HelenWheels]

2. Acts like this is why I no longer am Catholic.