During the funeral, participants, many of them wearing extravagant drag, repeatedly interrupted the priest and broke into loud chants. One reveler even took to the podium to pray for "access" to "gender-affirming healthcare," a cause that the Catholic Church opposes.
The founder of GLITS, a man who calls himself "Ceyenne Doroshow," organized the event and later admitted to deceiving the Cathedral by keeping details about Gentili "under wraps" before the gathering. In response, St. Patrick’s Cathedral expressed "outrage" at having been deceived and assured concerned Catholics that a Mass of reparation had been said at the Cathedral since the incident.
The Cathedral's actions have sparked controversy, with GLITS claiming that St. Patrick’s Cathedral was filled with over 1,400 mourners and community members for Cecilia Gentili's funeral. However, his service ended an hour earlier than scheduled, denying him the full funeral mass that had been agreed upon. GLITS also disputes the Cathedral's narrative that they were manipulated by funeral organizers regarding Gentili's identity, stating that they had advised Cathedral staff to look up Cecilia Gentili's work and community service.
Activist Ceyenne Doroshow gave a small press conference giving his narrative claiming that the Catholic Church knew Gentili was a transexual and about his life. Doroshow claimed the Archdiocese's statement was offensive, hateful, and contradicted Fiducia Supplicans stating Pope Francis okayed "Same-sex Marriage." This is of course not true. Doroshow continued claiming that it was none of the staff of St. Patrick's cathedral what was "in between Cecilia's legs" implying gender. He claims the cathedral discriminated against the trans community after admitted he did deceive the cathedral about the deceased. Moreover, he continued to tell a story about being raised Catholic and going to school only to be molested by another student and a security guard.
The situation highlights tensions between LGBTQ activists and religious institutions, emphasizing the need for respectful dialogue and understanding across different perspectives.
Doroshow is right to a certain extent. The Archdiocese, particularly the staff at St. Patrick's Cathedral did botch things up. Canon Law is clear:
§3. In the prudent judgment of the local ordinary, ecclesiastical funerals can be granted to baptized persons who are enrolled in a non-Catholic Church or ecclesial community unless their intention is evidently to the contrary and provided that their own minister is not available.Can. 1184 §1. Unless they gave some signs of repentance before death, the following must be deprived of ecclesiastical funerals: 1/ notorious apostates, heretics, and schismatics; 2/ those who chose the cremation of their bodies for reasons contrary to Christian faith; 3/ other manifest sinners who cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals without public scandal of the faithful. §2. If any doubt occurs, the local ordinary is to be consulted, and his judgment must be followed.Can. 1185 Any funeral Mass must also be denied a person who is excluded from ecclesiastical funerals.
A baptism certificate should have been requested and produced. The situation should have been vetted. If Doroshow is being truthful that he told the staff that Gentili was an activist, then they should have done their research. Moreover, once attendees entered the Cathedral, the staff should have known this event would be problematic. They should have canceled right on the spot and not let it go on. It seems the staff did not think and just took the donation.
However, Doroshow did admit to deceiving the staff so he has blame as well. He should have done his own research. If he claims Gentili battled the Catholic Church for decades then he should have known the Church's stance on homosexuality. He should have researched what Fiducia Supplicans is and what it really says. Doroshow is under the impression it is a license to bless so-called Same-Sex Unions. As many Catholics showed concern about, the declaration would cause confusion and make people think that the Church changed its stance on marriage. We are seeing the bad fruits of the wording and promotion of Fiducia Supplicans at play.
Priests like James Martin of the Jesuit order are also not helping by playing word games and giving false hope to the LGBTQIA community thinking the Church is changing her teachings on homosexuality. We can have bridges, but like with real ones, the linking destinations will always be the same. The George Washington Bridge will always link the Bronx with New Jersey. We can extend bridges to the LGBTQIA community, but our side will still have the same destination: Gospel Truth. We cannot change this.
It seems this drama or story is not over and will continue. As time moves on, it seems this funeral was a stunt and not a genuine goodbye to the trans community's "icon." Time will tell. I will update this post if new details come along.
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