Archdiocese of New York condemns funeral of transgender activist in cathedral

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York condemned the funeral of a transgender community leader held at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Thursday, calling the event an insult to the Catholic faith and saying it was unaware of the deceased's identity when it met consented host of the service.

The funeral, which attracted more than a thousand people, celebrated the life of Cecilia Gentili, an activist and actress known for her advocacy for sex workers, transgender people and people living with HIV.

Thursday's service was an event most likely without precedent in Catholic history. The pews were packed with mourners, many of them transgender, wearing bold, fashionable outfits and cheering as hymns led them in prayer for transgender rights and access to gender-affirming health care.

One eulogy, a video clip which was widely shared online Friday by Catholic conservatives, Ms. Gentili remembered as “Saint Cecilia, the mother of all whores,” to the thunderous cheers of a nearly full cathedral.

Catholic liberals, including some parishioners at St. Patrick's, said that regardless of how some mourners behaved, the church had done something good by hosting the funeral of a transgender person. But the response from conservatives was fiery.

CatholicVote, a conservative group, called the funeral “unbelievable and sick' and said it was 'a mockery of the Christian faith'. The Rev. Nicholas Gregoris, co-founder of the Society of St. John, Cardinal Newman, called it “disgusting,” a “blasphemous and sacrilege fiasco” and “a deplorable desecration of America's most famous Catholic Church.”

On Saturday, the archdiocese released a statement saying it shared the anger of conservative Catholics over what it called “the outrageous behavior” at Ms. Gentili's funeral. The Rev. Enrique Salvo, the pastor of St. Patrick's, said the church was not aware of Ms. Gentili's background when it agreed to host the service.

“The cathedral only knew that family and friends were requesting a funeral mass for a Catholic, and had no idea that our reception and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive manner,” the pastor said.

The funeral organizer, Ceyenne Doroshow, said after the event on Thursday that Ms Gentili's relatives had kept her background “under wraps” because they feared the archdiocese would not organize a funeral for a person she knew to be transgender.

Ms Doroshow said the family wanted Ms Gentili's funeral to take place at St Patrick's because “it's an icon, just like them.”

On Saturday, the Gentili family was outraged by the church's criticism of her funeral, accusing the archdiocese of “hypocrisy and anti-trans hatred” in a statement.

The family said the LGBTQ community would continue to honor Ms. Gentili for the way she “served, mothered and loved all people.”

“Her heart and hands reached those whom the hypocritical church continues to belittle, oppress and chastise,” the family said. “The only deception in St. Patrick's Cathedral is that it claims to be a welcoming place for all.”

The day before the funeral, the archdiocese described the service as a routine event, even after a reporter said Ms. Gentili was transgender.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for the archdiocese, Joseph Zwilling, said that “a funeral is one of the corporal works of mercy,” part of Catholic teaching that the church has described as “a model for how we should treat all others, as if they were Christ in disguise.”

But on Saturday, Father Salvo said in the statement that the cathedral had held a special reparation mass to atone for the funeral. Mr Zwilling said the event took place that day.

“That such a scandal has occurred in 'America's parish church' makes it even worse,” Father Salvo said, referring to the funeral. “That it occurred as Lent began, the annual forty-day battle with the forces of sin and darkness, is a powerful reminder of how much we need the prayer, restoration, repentance, grace and mercy that this holy season brings. invites us. .”

New York City is home to about a dozen gay-friendly Catholic parishes that in many ways reflect the church's softer tone on sexuality under Pope Francis. But St. Patrick's Cathedral, the seat of the powerful archdiocese, is not one of them.

Ms. Gentili, who died Feb. 6 at age 52, had a complex relationship with religion, which she explored last year in a one-woman Off Broadway show, “Red Ink.”

After a religious upbringing Ms. Gentili said in an interview last yearshe identified as an atheist because she felt rejected as a transgender woman by so many Christian denominations.

“I used to go to the Baptist church with my grandmother, and they wouldn't have me there,” she said. “They made it terribly clearly. I also went to the Catholic Church, and both were such traumatic experiences for me as a queer person. So I started identifying as an atheist, but I know that so many trans people have been able to find a relationship with faith in spaces that include them.”