- Feb 5, 2002
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‘Today, my concern is the number of Catholics that are not having a funeral Mass and going directly to burial. That’s not helpful to Catholics or to Catholic life.’
The confrontational behavior by mourners attending a funeral service at New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral for a noted transgender activist on Feb. 15 prompted questions about why the service was allowed in the first place.
Officials with the Archdiocese of New York say they were misled, a claim the organizer of Cecilia Gentili’s funeral denies.
But while the details of that episode remain murky, one thing is clear: It’s much less common for someone to be denied a Catholic funeral than it used to be. Even some notorious organized crime lords have received a requiem Mass.
Many pastors are more worried about Catholics skipping funeral Masses than about someone requesting one unworthily.
“
Presently, the more important value is that the person has available the sacrifice of Christ, which is the Mass, which brings his mercy to the deceased,” said Father Dennis Gill, rector of the Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia and the director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office for Divine Worship.
“So it would be very rare — very rare — that a funeral Mass would be denied,” he said. “In fact, today, my concern is the number of Catholics that are not having a funeral Mass and going directly to burial. That’s not helpful to Catholics or to Catholic life.”
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
The confrontational behavior by mourners attending a funeral service at New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral for a noted transgender activist on Feb. 15 prompted questions about why the service was allowed in the first place.
Officials with the Archdiocese of New York say they were misled, a claim the organizer of Cecilia Gentili’s funeral denies.
But while the details of that episode remain murky, one thing is clear: It’s much less common for someone to be denied a Catholic funeral than it used to be. Even some notorious organized crime lords have received a requiem Mass.
Many pastors are more worried about Catholics skipping funeral Masses than about someone requesting one unworthily.
“
Presently, the more important value is that the person has available the sacrifice of Christ, which is the Mass, which brings his mercy to the deceased,” said Father Dennis Gill, rector of the Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia and the director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office for Divine Worship.
“So it would be very rare — very rare — that a funeral Mass would be denied,” he said. “In fact, today, my concern is the number of Catholics that are not having a funeral Mass and going directly to burial. That’s not helpful to Catholics or to Catholic life.”
Continued below.
Who Can Be Denied a Catholic Funeral? A History and Church Teaching on the ‘Very Rare’ Denials
‘Today, my concern is the number of Catholics that are not having a funeral Mass and going directly to burial. That’s not helpful to Catholics or to Catholic life.’
