Guidance On Funeral Services For Same-Sex Couples Leaked

The Catholic Diocese of Madison sent out guidance in a weekly email to priests concerning funeral services for same-sex couples. The communication was first published on the Pray Tell blog, a religious website.

In the email, priests are told to, “think through the issue thoroughly and prudently” when it comes to performing funeral services for someone in a same-sex relationship.

Vicar General of the Diocese of Madison Rev. Msgr. James Bartylla wrote the guidance. In an email, the Diocese said the communication has the Bishop’s approval, but it isn’t official policy.

“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 leaked guidance stated.

According to the email statement, one of the considerations priests are told to take into account is, “Was the deceased or the ‘partner’ a promoter of the ‘gay’ lifestyle?”

James Green lives in Middleton and has been with his partner for about 47 years. He identifies as Catholic, but he and his partner attend Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton. Holy Wisdom is an ecumenical Christian community, meaning all Christian faiths are included. The couple has burial plots in Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Madison but don’t plan on having a Catholic funeral service. Green said his sexual orientation isn’t a lifestyle.

“If I like to go bowling or hiking or something, that’s a lifestyle,” the 78-year-old said. “But there’s no understanding of what sexual orientation is. My sexual orientation is God given, and this is the way God created us.”

Pope Francis said in June 2016 that the Catholic Church must apologize to gay people and others it has offended.

Steve Starkey, executive director of OutReach LGBT Community Center in Madison, said these guidelines treat gay people like, “second-class citizens.”

“I keep hoping that the Catholic Church will come into the 21st century, but it doesn’t seem like they’re budging at all, at least locally,” Starkey said.

The statement from the Diocese condoned whoever leaked the communication, saying “perform, indeed, what Sacred Scripture calls ‘a work of darkness.’”