Lesbian: 'Denied communion' at funeral

[Blackmarch]

I'm sorry, but this Barbara Johnson is an idiot.

First of all - every Catholic knows homosexuality is not a sin but engaging in homosexual relations is so she should not line up for Communion.

Second of all - not only was there one Eulogy but TWO Eulogies, at least one of which is 15 minutes long in a Catholic funeral mass? Barbara should know that eulogies are not allowed in Catholic funeral mass! Okay, a lot of times the family offers the "Remembrance" after communion before the completion of the funeral rites which can sometimes be called by those unfamiliar with Catholic practice as the Eulogy - but this is supposed to be short "remembrances", about 5 minutes long! The Eulogies are supposed to be said either at the wake, or after the casket is received by the priest before the funeral mass starts, or at the burial. The funeral mass concentrates on the Homily - the priest's words to the departed and the surviving family and friends. Poor priest! No wonder he got a migraine!

But, there is not one mention in any of the news stories at all about how ignorant of Catholic teaching this Barbara girl is. It's all about how the priest is wrong for denying her Communion!

I'm frankly sick and tired of this stupid news story.

seconded

[LDSJewess]

If anyone commits to any religion they should accept the doctrine of the church and the policies of the church. There are plenty of religious organizations and churches that accept homosexuals into their churches, and that even includes some of the more liberal streams of Judaism.

The one comment I would like to make though of two recent incidents is that the Catholic church in it's entirety does not always practice their own policies.

I attended the funeral of an aunt who was a catholic convert late in her life before she died. Communion was served at the funeral service with the priest inviting ALL present to partake per the "wishes of the deseased". So here was a room full of Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Athiests, Jews and Latter Day Saints in this church all invitees to the communion table. Since the priest did not know many of us (we all traveled to the funeral from many out of State destinations) and since I did not know many of the other attendees for all I know there could have been homosexuals in the group. In any event I don't think the Priest seemsed concerned regarding anyone's faith.

Another curious event happened this past Christmas Eve. My husband and I were aboard a cruise ship and on Christmas Eve there was a Catholic midnight Mass service lled by a catholic priest who was introduced to the "congregation" as "Father Frank". The mass weas help in a triple tiered showroom lounge and I would estimate 1,000 people were in attendance. What I found interesting was that when communion was served, not only was it served to everyone attending which many were not catholic; the Priest selected a number of people to help serve the eucharist. One of the people "serving" was a decon in his presberterian church and was "qualified" to assist in serving communion because of his decon status albeit he was not Catholic. Then again neither were many of the cruise line passengers making up this congregation. It was a very interesting cruise. Come to think of it, there were also candle lighting services for Chanukah on the same cruise and a number of the people attending were not Jewish.

Anyway back to Catholic communion. I am sure it is not always enforced who can an cannot partake which makes it a little confusion as to where the Catholic church stands on the issue.

[Guest]

If anyone commits to any religion they should accept the doctrine of the church and the policies of the church. There are plenty of religious organizations and churches that accept homosexuals into their churches, and that even includes some of the more liberal streams of Judaism.

The one comment I would like to make though of two recent incidents is that the Catholic church in it's entirety does not always practice their own policies.

I attended the funeral of an aunt who was a catholic convert late in her life before she died. Communion was served at the funeral service with the priest inviting ALL present to partake per the "wishes of the deseased". So here was a room full of Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Athiests, Jews and Latter Day Saints in this church all invitees to the communion table. Since the priest did not know many of us (we all traveled to the funeral from many out of State destinations) and since I did not know many of the other attendees for all I know there could have been homosexuals in the group. In any event I don't think the Priest seemsed concerned regarding anyone's faith.

Another curious event happened this past Christmas Eve. My husband and I were aboard a cruise ship and on Christmas Eve there was a Catholic midnight Mass service lled by a catholic priest who was introduced to the "congregation" as "Father Frank". The mass weas help in a triple tiered showroom lounge and I would estimate 1,000 people were in attendance. What I found interesting was that when communion was served, not only was it served to everyone attending which many were not catholic; the Priest selected a number of people to help serve the eucharist. One of the people "serving" was a decon in his presberterian church and was "qualified" to assist in serving communion because of his decon status albeit he was not Catholic. Then again neither were many of the cruise line passengers making up this congregation. It was a very interesting cruise. Come to think of it, there were also candle lighting services for Chanukah on the same cruise and a number of the people attending were not Jewish.

Anyway back to Catholic communion. I am sure it is not always enforced who can an cannot partake which makes it a little confusion as to where the Catholic church stands on the issue.

First point:

The Catholic Church may offer Communion to non-Catholics in special circumstances according to the judgment of the diocesan bishop. The same rules are maintained - that one is free from mortal sin as defined by the Catholic Church, and that one accepts the doctrine of Real Presence. The Catholic Church is in partial communion with the Presbyterian church and all other Protestant Churches.

Second point:

A Catholic priest does not "inspect" or "interview" every single person lining up for Communion. It is left to the person's conscience whether he lines up or not. Therefore, a priest assumes that everybody lining up for Communion is worthy of the Eucharist unless the priest encounters a person that he knows for a fact is not worthy to partake of the sacrament and has been adviced not to partake of it.

Third point:

There is nothing unclear about the Catholic administration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is quite clear.

Fourth point:

Like any other religious institution, each priest/bishop/religious leader is human and has no special powers to be free from mistakes.

Hope this clarifies some things for you.

[LDSJewess]

Yes thank you. This does clarify for me, When I was a kid growing up in the 1950's the Catholci church and Protestant denominations were very separate and each served communion within the walls of their churches and there was not much interfaith interaction on either of their parts.

In those days it appeared that the sacredness of the Eucharist was guarded much like the LDS Temples are today. Although one did not need a recommend to stand in a communion, there seemed to be a lot of diligence in minding the store so to speak (both in Catholic and some protestant churches particulary Lutheran churches)

So I suppose all these years later I was taken aback by a communion service being so public and so inclusive. Actually it was a nice thing to see.

In any event thanks for clearing up some of my inquiry..

[annewandering]

Priest defends denying Communion to lesbian at funeral ? USATODAY.com Interesting update.