Peace & Justice
St . Henry Church , St . Henry , Ohio
As We Forgive Those ... by Fr . James Smith , c . pp . s ., Parochial Vicar at St . Henry Cluster Parishes , St . Henry Ohio
The first day after my ordination to the priesthood , a call came in from the nursing home across the street requesting a funeral . The parish secretary and staff suggested that this was my chance to experience ministering at a funeral . That funeral followed a week later , and the reality had set in that one of the new functions in my life as a minister and as a priest would be funerals .
This past June the experience and reality of funerals and burying the dead became forefront in the national conversation on same-sex marriage and lgbt persons . Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield , Illinois issued a “ Decree Regarding Same- Sex ‘ Marriage ’ and Related Pastoral Issues .” The decree outlines prohibitions and guidelines for men and women in same-sex marriages regarding marriages , communion , baptisms , Confirmation , liturgical ministries , and , most notably , funeral rites . Specifically , the decree states that individuals living “ openly in same-sex marriage ( s )… are to be deprived of ecclesiastical funeral rites .” Only when individuals in same-sex marriages have given some signs of repentance before death are they to be granted funeral rites . In case of doubt , the bishop himself is to judge .
The debate and conversation regarding same-sex civil marriage continues in the United States . The sacramental conversation of same-sex marriage is slowly emerging in some small segments of Catholic theologians , but more pronounced in a number of Protestant traditions . Putting aside what is or what should define the requirements or prohibitions around civil or sacramental marriage , the church clearly has a stake and vested interest in the degree to which the church engages something it does not clearly promote or condone . The ethical principle of cooperation is fitting here . Ethicists do a great job of this , especially in medical ethics . The granting or denying funeral rites is fundamentally an ethical issue : an ethical issue of inclusion or exclusion of basic pastoral care . The ethics or morality of marriage and sexuality should not be ignored . The morality of granting pastoral care to those mourning cannot be ignored or relegated either .
In the media onslaught that followed the decree , Bishop Paprocki was notably criticized for not issuing the decree to cover all irregular relationships , including divorced-and-remarried opposite-sex couples . He later clarified that the prohibitions in the decree continued on page 8
October 2017 • The New Wine Press • 7