U.S. Bishop Instructs Priests Not to Give People in Same-Sex 'Marriages' Holy Communion, Catholic Funeral
A Catholic bishop has issued a decree instructing priests in his central Illinois diocese not to give Holy Communion and Catholic funeral rites to people in same-sex "marriages" if they died without showing signs of repentance.
In the decree he issued last week, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois outlined the new policy of the diocese on same-sex marriage and related pastoral issues, NPR reported.
"The Church has not only the authority, but the serious obligation, to affirm its authentic teaching on marriage and to preserve and foster the sacred value of the married state," explained Paprocki, who is well-known to the pro-life and pro-family movements for his defense of Catholic orthodoxy and morality, according to LifeSite News.
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Paprocki wrote that he has a "responsibility as diocesan bishop to guide the people of God entrusted to me with charity but without compromising the truth."
The decree states that, "Given the objectively immoral nature of the relationship created by same-sex marriages, persons in such unions should not present themselves for Holy Communion, nor should they be admitted to Holy Communion."
A person in a same-sex marriage who is facing death may only receive communion after expressing "repentance for his or her sins."
People in same-sex marriages may not receive a Catholic funeral "unless they have given some signs of repentance before their death."
Paprocki said the decree he issued is based on the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church, specifically Canon 915 and 916.
Canon 915 says that those "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion."
Canon 916 instructs Catholics conscious of grave sin not to "receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession."
LGBT Catholic groups, including DignityUSA, denounced the decree, calling it "mean-spirited and hurtful in the extreme."
"Bishop Paprocki's decree makes it very clear why so many LGBTQI people and their families feel unwelcome in the Catholic Church and why so many leave it," DignityUSA's incoming president, Christopher Pett, said in a statement.
"It is simply cruel and shameful to refuse burial or Communion to those who seek the grace and comfort that our Church offers at some of the most difficult moments of life," said Marianne Duddy-Burke, the organization's executive director.
However, the Springfield Diocese says the decree is necessary "in light of changes in the law and in our culture regarding these issues," referring to the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that made gay marriage legal throughout the United States.
Michael Sean Winters, a columnist at National Catholic Reporter, said Paprocki's decree contradicts the more welcoming direction that Pope Francis has set for the Catholic Church. "I can't imagine a cruder thing more at cross purposes with what the Holy Father is trying to do," Winters said.
