Deep in grief, Barbara Johnson stood first in the line for Communion at her mother’s funeral Saturday morning. But the priest in front of her immediately made it clear that she would not receive the sacramental bread and wine.
Johnson, an art-studio owner from the District, had come to St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg with her lesbian partner. The Rev. Marcel Guarnizo had learned of their relationship just before the service.
“He put his hand over the body of Christ and looked at me and said, ‘I can’t give you Communion because you live with a woman, and in the eyes of the church, that is a sin,’ ” she recalled Tuesday.
She reacted with stunned silence. Her anger and outrage have now led her and members of her family to demand that Guarnizo be removed from his ministry.
Family members said the priest left the altar while Johnson, 51, was delivering a eulogy and did not attend the burial or find another priest to be there.
John Shore interviewed Barbara Johnson after her mother's funeral service.
Yes, Fr. Guarnizo denied Barbara communion. But almost immediately thereafter a layperson acting as the service’s Eucharistic Minister did lovingly serve Barbara communion.The story illustrates why I do not urge my Roman Catholic friends and acquaintances to follow my example and leave the RCC. Besides, the decision to stay or to go is the responsibility of each individual after prayerful reflection. The good people amongst the laity and the clergy in the church who live the Gospel of Christ, will yet be the salvation of their church. Not the pope, not the bishops: It will be the lowly folks who are the church, no less than the pope and the bishops, who will save the church and the hierarchy from themselves. I know Roman Catholic clergy and laity who live by the Two Great Commandments and the Golden Rule and serve God and God's people with love and compassion, sometimes in the face of obstructionist tactics by those in authority. Who will take their place if they leave?
Yes, Fr. Guarnizo essentially shunned Barbara. But directly following the service (and to a necessarily lesser degree during the service), Barbara was also surrounded and hugged by fellow Catholics who made a point of telling her that Fr. Marcel in no way represented the love of the Church.
Yes, Fr. Guarnizo shamelessly refused to go to the cemetery. But immediately thereupon the funeral director (“an angel,” says Barbara) comforted Barbara with assurances that he would quickly secure a priest to perform the burial. He then turned to Fr. Peter Sweeney, who wasted no time at all stepping right out of his retirement, and right into the Johnson funeral service.
“Father Sweeney was perfect,” says Barbara. “We couldn’t have asked for a kinder, more loving priest. Both Father Sweeney and the funeral director acted as soothing balms on our very scarred hearts.”
Thanks to Paul (A.) who sent me the link to the post by Fred Clark at Slactivist, along with the note, "I had been familiar with the main story but not the followup as explained in Slacktivist." I knew the original story as well, but I did not know the tale of the Roman Catholics who stepped forward with words and deeds of love after Fr Guarnizo demonstrated a complete lack of compassion. Thanks be to God for the people who acted in a Christ-like manner!
