A leaked email from the Vicar General of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin in the United States has revealed a set of guidelines for performing funeral rites for the gay community.
The email—uploaded by blog —describes steps that should be followed regarding funerals for someone who has been in a “homosexual civil union” or “an otherwise notorious homosexual relationship gravely contrary to the natural law”.
Vicar James Bartylla advises that priests should think through the issue “thoroughly and prudently” to minimise the “risk of scandal and confusion to others amidst the solicitude for the deceased and family.
“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 email continues.
Bartylla then goes on to list a number of considerations that should be made when deciding whether or not to perform a funeral, including:
Was the deceased or the “partner” a promoter of the “gay” lifestyle?
Did the deceased give some signs of repentance before death?
Any surviving “partner” should not have any public or prominent role at any ecclesiastical funeral rite or service
There should be no mention of the “partner” either by name or by other reference (nor reference to the unnatural union) in any liturgical booklet, prayer card, homily, sermon, talk by the priest, deacon, etc…
The diocese’s communications director Brent King told that while the email was “not an official diocesan policy... it does conform with the mind of the bishop [Robert Morlino] and meet his approval.”
Marianne Duddy-Burke is the executive director of DignityUSA, a Catholic organisation committed to LGBTI equality.
“It shows that this bishop believes that lesbian and gay people who have lived a deep commitment to a spouse or partner should be demeaned even in death.
“Our families could be refused the sacraments of our faith at the moment of their greatest grief. This is heartless. It is cruel. It is unchristian in the extreme.”
“DignityUSA calls on Catholics in general and on other Church leaders to demand an immediate end to these unjust and mean-spirited pronouncements, which only serve to distance LGBTQI people, our families, and many young people from our Church.”
