On Thursday Feb 15, 2023, there was a controversial funeral that was held at St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. The funeral for Cecilia Gentili, a high-profile trans activist, sex worker and an atheist, sparked a lot of controversy in the church as well as to Catholics all over the Country maybe even the world. There controversial issue that sparked an outcry on social media shows the church being misused for something other than a funeral.
Gentili was an activist that helped to decriminalize sex work in New York, lobbied for Gender identity to be added as a protected class to the state's human rights laws, and was a major fundraiser for transgender causes. The organizers of the funeral did not disclose to the church that she was biologically a man who identified as a woman as well as an atheist. Gentili died at the age of 52. The organizer, Ceyeye Doroshow told the New York Times "I kept it under wraps." Doroshow said the Gentili's friends had requested that the funeral be held at St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City because "it is an icon" which is how they thought of her.
The celebrant Father Edward Dougherty, referred to Gentili with feminine pronouns in which he described the transgender man as "our sister." During the prayers of the people the reader prayed for gender-reaffirming healthcare. During this time those in attendance frequently called Gentili, "the mother of whores." It is unclear if the staff of the Cathedral knew that Gentili was a man who identified as a woman.
The Archdiocese of New York released a statement on Saturday from Father Enrique Salvo, the pator of the church stated, "the staff had no idea our welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a sacreligious way." Salvo said that church officials shared in "outrage over the scandelous behavior at a funeral here at St Patrick's Cathedral earlier this week." He revealed that a mass of reparation was held at the Cathedral at the direction of Cardinal Dolan.
Joseph Zwilling, the Archdiocesan spokesperson said that "a funeral is one of the corporal works of mercy," which are "a model for how we should treat all others, as if they were Christ in disguise. "There are several mainstream media outlets saying that Catholic Church is shifting its teaching on sexuality. Mainstream media is calling this stunt "no small feet" since it was held at St Patrick's Cathedral while the New York Times described it as "an exuberant piece of theater."
LGBTQ advocate and Jesuit, Father James Martin who's pastoral inclusion has caused contrversy in the church, initially approved of the service. Father Martin told the New York Times "To celebrate the funeral Mass of a transgender woman at St. Patrick’s is a powerful reminder, during Lent, that LGBTQ people are as much a part of the church as anyone else, I wonder if would have happened a generation ago?" His view would soon change after this. Father Martin clarified that he made these statements prior to the service.
Father Martin Believes that "LGBTQ people should be included in the church like any other parishioner but, he believes that churches are sacred places and there are certain actions that are out of bounds." "I've not seen the whole service as recorded, but some actions I've seen struck me as, while perhaps to the congregation a joyful and celebratory, disrespectful of the sacred space that is St Patrick's Cathedral. One can can be both joyful and respectful, it seems to me."
The service was described as a staged mockery of the Christian faith and it was. This was deliberately done on purpose. If you watch the the videos you can see them smiling when they start calling Gentili a whore and they look right into the camera and smile as if they were doing it on purpose. The crowd in the church seemed to chant like they were at an NFL football game rather than a funeral service in GOD's house. Some called on Cardinal Dolan and the Archdiocese to respond to this act of sacriledge.
Many of the 1,000+ attendees that were in attendance where wearing drag and scanty outfits. At the altar an image of Gentili stood with a halo around her. In this photos Gentili is surrounded by the words "whore, transvestite, blessed and mother." One trans activist stated that having the funeral in St Patrick' s felt appropriate, describing the stunt as an act of bestowing "sainthood" on Gentili. Obviously she is not a canonized saint of the church.
There were many questions raised by the actions of the attendees during the liturgy, attendees cheered as if they were a NFL game, applauded and chanted her name. During the rendition of Ave Maria, it was interrupted when attendees shouted "ave cecilia" and danced down the center isle. Oscar Diaz described Gentili as "this whore this great whore,st cecilia, mother of all whores." those that were in attendance stood up and applauded as Father Dougherty remained seated with his chin in his hands.
Gentili attended Baptist and Catholic churches before making the decision to become an athiest. Gentili stated that religion was a foundational aspect of her life and that she always felt a connection to it.
In my opinion this was a planned event to attack the church. Those who are in the LGBTQ community are always complaining that they are oppressed and persecuted and what equal rights and they go a desecrate a church. How is society supposed to take them seriously when they pull stunts like this? Im not saying that all who are in that community are bad but those who want do things like this don't deserve respect. They forget one thing, when they die they will have to answer to Jesus for their actions on Feb 15, 2024 on their day of judgement.
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