MADISON, Wis. — Priests in Madison, Wisconsin, are permitted to deny LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people Catholic funerals, according to new directives in the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin.
The idea is not an official diocesan policy, but Vicar General James Bartylla spelled out these directives in notes titled “Consideration of Funeral Rites for a Person in a Homosexual Civil or Notorious Union,” according to the National Catholic Reporter.
The directives came after pastors and priests had asked for advice on the topic and they encourage faith leaders to “think through the issue thoroughly and prudently.”
“The main issue centers around scandal and confusion (leading others into the occasion of sin or confusing or weakening people regarding the teachings of the Catholic Church in regards to sacred doctrine and the natural law),” the document said, “and thereby the pastoral task is to minimize the risk of scandal and confusion to others amidst the solicitude for the deceased and family.”
Other advice included keeping the surviving partner out of a prominent role in the funeral service and keeping the priest’s or parish’s name out of any obituary that lists a surviving partner, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
“No such policy could adequately cover every case, and it has always been the ‘policy’ of the Diocese of Madison, on the matter of public funerals in general, that pastors are charged with addressing the particular situations of their people — whom they ideally know well and whom they have accompanied, even until their death,” the statement said. (TAB)
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