LOUISIANA: Married Gay Man Denied Communion At His Mother's Funeral

Via the New Orleans Advocate:

Tim Ardillo said he was standing next to his mother’s coffin leading his young son to receive a blessing when the priest presiding over the funeral Mass denied him communion. The longtime Catholic said the priest told him it was because he married outside the church, but Ardillo doesn’t think that’s the whole story. He believes he was denied the sacrament because, as is stated in his mother’s obituary, he is married to a man. The priest in question, the Rev. Mark Beard [PHOTO], of St. Helena Catholic Church in Amite, did not return multiple calls seeking comment in the week following the July 10 funeral. Ardillo said the church passed out a quotation from 1 Corinthians at Mass the next Sunday, which states, in a portion highlighted in red ink, “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks in judgment of himself.”

Ardillo says he has gotten an apology from the Diocese of Baton Rouge and from the Archbishop of New Orleans. (Tipped by JMG reader Ken)