Funeral for transgender activist upsets New York Catholic church leaders

New York’s St Patrick’s Cathedral has held a rare mass of reparation to atone for what Catholic leaders described as a ‘sacrilegious’ funeral service held there.

Transgender activist Cecilia Gentili, who died earlier this month.

New York’s St Patrick’s Cathedral, which promotes itself as “America’s Parish Church’’, held a rare mass of reparation on Saturday to atone for what Catholic leaders described as a “sacrilegious” funeral service held there two days earlier.

The funeral of Cecilia Gentili, a 52-year-old Argentinian-born transgender activist, actor and ­advocate for sex workers and AIDS patients, drew about 1000 mourners, many wearing glittery dresses, tulle, fur and fishnet stockings, with the odd see-through costume and a boa sewn from $US100 bills.

“Except on Easter Sunday, we don’t really have a crowd that is this well turned out,’’ the presiding priest, Edard Dougherty, said, drawing applause and cheers.

So did one of Gentili’s friends – a man wearing a cowboy hat and loop earrings – when he lauded her as “this whore, this great whore, saint Cecelia, mother of all whores’’.

One mourner upstaged the ­cathedral chorister, changing the words of Ave Maria to Ave Cecelia and dancing down the aisle in red, while another took the lectern and prayed for access to gender-affirming healthcare.

In a statement, St Patrick’s pastor, Inrique Salvo, said the mass of reparation was offered, at the direction of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, to pray for forgiveness for what some considered a desecration of the cathedral. “Thanks to so many who have let us know they share our outrage over the scandalous ­behaviour at a funeral here at St Patrick’s Cathedral,’’ Father Salvo said. “The cathedral only knew that family and friends were ­requesting a funeral mass for a Catholic, and had no idea our welcome and prayer would be ­degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive way.

“That such a scandal occurred at ‘America’s Parish Church’ makes it worse. That it took place as Lent was beginning, the annual 40-day struggle with the forces of sin and darkness, is a potent ­reminder of how much we need the prayer, reparation, repentance, grace and mercy to which this holy season invites us.’’

Gentili’s friends told New York media that they wanted her ­funeral held at St Patrick’s ­“because it’s an icon’’, which is how they thought of her.

After years as an atheist, she developed an interest in religion late in life. “Cecelia died with Christ,’’ Father Dougherty said.

Gentili’s family’s statement, ­issued in response to the church’s statement, said: “We brought precious life and radical joy to the ­cathedral in historic defiance of the church’s hypocrisy and anti-trans hatred … Her heart and hands reached those the sanctimonious church continues to ­belittle, oppress and chastise, and she changed the ­material conditions for countless people.”

The funeral and its fallout have sparked intense debate about ­inclusiveness and what is appropriate in churches.

US Jesuit James Martin was initially a supporter. “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,’’ he said.

After watching footage, he said: “Some actions I’ve seen struck me as, while perhaps to the congregation joyful and celebratory, disrespectful of the sacred space that is St Patrick’s Cathedral. When in a church … I feel that you should always err on the side of respect and prudence.”