A priest who denied communion to a gay woman at her mother’s funeral mass has been put on leave by the Washington D.C.-area archdiocese, but the archdiocese said the suspension is not related to the communion controversy.
In a statement, the archdiocese said Father Marcel Guarnizo was placed on administrative leave because of “credible allegation that Father Guarnizo had engaged in intimidating behavior toward parish staff and others.”
The statement did not elaborate on what that behavior might have been.
Guarnizo, a suburban Maryland priest, had been criticized by Barbara Johnson and her family for his behavior at the funeral of Johnson’s mother. Johnson, who is a lesbian, said Guarnizo denied her communion at her mother’s funeral mass.
“He covered the bowl with the Eucharist with his hand and looked at me, and said I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin in the eyes of the church,” Johnson told ABC News affiliate WLJA in Washington.
“She was clearly distraught,” her older brother Larry Johnson told ABC News.
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Submitted by Putra on
My father is gay, and while he and my mother are no longer married they have remained the closest of friends. I even work at an adoption agency that helps gay couples adopt children from all over the world. The picture is just one of the millions of examples that prove that homosexuality is not something to hide from; it is something to embrace, to cherish, and to accept as a natural part of a human s identity. Homosexuality is not a choice; it is not a learned behavior. Homosexuality is a biological preference; it is a genetic trait. My father has two brothers and two sisters, all of whom are heterosexual. People who are against homosexuality need to ask themselves, Why of all these siblings only one is homosexual? If all five children were raised exactly the same should they all not be homosexual, or all heterosexual? The answer is no. All five children were raised by the same parents, in the same community, and in the same house. They all lived more-or-less similar lifestyles as children, yet one of them (my dad) ended up being a homosexual early in his youth. This is not a matter of learned behavior but a matter of biologically-influenced preference. For those who say this is not a matter of science but a matter of religion (specifically Catholicism and Christianity), I would have to ask these people, Why if I can love my dad unconditionally, why can t God? Why if I can welcome my dad into my arms, why can t God do the same? The love I have for my father is not a blind love but a true love. I would never turn away from my father, so why would God do the same? Does this mean that I am capable of loving a person more than God can? I should hope not. There is a lot more evil in this world brought on by humans than there is from God placing it here on earth. I have to ask anyone who believes God accepts heterosexuality but not homosexuality: Am I more capable of love than God is?
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