CV NEWS FEED // Fr. James Martin, SJ, partially backpedaled his praise of an LGBTQ funeral service held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York after the raucous event provoked a firestorm of condemnations for “blasphemy.”
In a glowing report about the funeral last week, the New York Times wrote that Fr. Martin “said it was ‘wonderful’ that St. Patrick’s had agreed to hold Ms. Gentili’s funeral.” The organizer of the ceremony revealed after the fact that he had in fact deliberately deceived the cathedral’s staff and clergy by withholding the true identity of Gentili and the nature of the event the LGBTQ activists had in mind.
Martin also told the Times: “To celebrate the funeral Mass of a transgender woman at St. Patrick’s is a powerful reminder, during Lent, that L.G.B.T.Q. people are as much a part of the church as anyone else.”
Thursday: An Unceremonious Ceremony
The funeral for atheist LGBTQ activist Cecilia Gentili, a man who said he was a “trans” woman, drew widespread criticism. As CatholicVote reported, LGBTQ activists, including many men in drag, descended on the cathedral for the event.
Revelers shouted obscenities from the lectern and repeatedly interrupted the presiding priest. One participant grabbed the mic and prayed for “access to gender-affirming healthcare.” Another called the deceased “St. Cecilia,” the “mother of all whores.”
Friday: New York Church Officials Outraged
St. Patrick’s Pastor, Fr. Enrique Salvo, issued a statement after the ceremony thanking “so many who have let us know they share our outrage over the scandalous behavior at a funeral here at St. Patrick’s Cathedral earlier this week.”
“The Cathedral only knew that family and friends were requesting a funeral Mass for a Catholic, and had no idea our welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive way,” Salvo wrote:
That such a scandal occurred at “America’s Parish Church” makes it worse; that it took place as Lent was beginning, the annual forty-day struggle with the forces of sin and darkness, is a potent reminder of how much we need the prayer, reparation, repentance, grace, and mercy to which this holy season invites us.
Salvo added that “we have offered an appropriate Mass of Reparation” at the direction of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan.
Saturday: Fr. Martin Backpedals
Martin wrote on X Saturday that the comments he’d given to the Times “were given before the service, and assuming that St. Patrick’s Cathedral had approved the service, which seemed like a compassionate gesture towards the deceased’s family and friends…”
“And I also assumed, based on the fact that the service was being held in St. Patrick’s, that Ms. Gentili was a believer, which according to @nytimes, she was not,” Martin continued:
Obviously, I believe that LGBTQ people should be as included as any other parishioner in their church. Just as obviously, I believe that churches are sacred spaces and certain actions are out of bounds. (Full disclosure: I had been invited to preach but was out of town)
“I’ve not seen the whole service as recorded,” Martin wrote, “but some actions I’ve seen struck me as, while perhaps to the congregation joyful and celebratory, disrespectful of the sacred space that is St. Patrick’s Cathedral. One can be both joyful and respectful, it seems to me.”
“I would imagine that some congregants might say that they intended nothing disrespectful or offensive,” Martin wrote, “but when in a church, synagogue or mosque, or any other sacred space, I feel that you should always err on the side of respect and prudence.”
“Most importantly,” Martin concluded, “may Cecilia Gentili rest in peace, and may her friends and her family, and all who knew her, be consoled by her memory and by God’s presence in their lives.”
The LGBTQ activists who staged the event showed no signs of regret in their response to the cathedral’s statement. The Gentili family published a statement claiming that “the L.G.B.T.Q. community would continue to celebrate Ms. Gentili for how she ministered, mothered and loved all people.”
“Her heart and hands reached those the sanctimonious church continues to belittle, oppress and chastise,” the family said. “The only deception present at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is that it claims to be a welcoming place for all.”
In a tweet on X, CatholicVote responded to Fr. Martin’s remarks, stating:
@JamesMartinSJ is now apologizing for his praise of the blasphemous service held at St Patrick’s Cathedral. The trans activists that organized this stunt must likewise apologize to Catholics of NY and Catholics everywhere.
