Making the rounds in the media is the tale of Fr. Marcel Guarnizo, of the Archdiocese of Washington, who recently denied Holy Communion to Barbara Johnson. Johnson identified herself to him just prior to her mother's funeral (in the sacristy of St. John Nuemann's church) as a practicing lesbian.
To cut a long story short, Johnson wishes that the Archdiocese remove Fr. Guarnizo from active ministry. My point is: how can this be, as Fr. Guarnizo can cite Canon 915 in his defense. “Those who have been … obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion”).
Interesting commentary on the issue may be found here from the "American Conservative". The website "Get Religion" nails down one of the problems with the one-sided reporting: " the priest is a stakeholder in this story, a person whose views need to be accurately and fairly reported". The original, one-sided report from the Washington Post may be found here. One of the interesting developments is that a number of high ranking archdiocesan officials seem to be lining up against Fr. Guarnizo.
No comments:
Post a Comment