Trans activist’s family says St. Patrick’s Cathedral knew funeral would celebrate ex-sex worker — and loved ones want an apology
The family of a trans activist and former sex worker whose funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral was abruptly cut short have denied that the church was duped into holding the ceremony — with some loved ones calling for an apology from the archdiocese.
St. Patrick’s officials have said they had no idea about Cecilia Gentili’s background before agreeing to hold a funeral Mass for her on Feb. 15, when she was eulogized as the “mother of all whores” and was pictured with a halo over her head surrounded by the words “transvestite” and “whore.”
But in a statement, Gentili’s family members denied that they ever deceived the church about the activist’s background.
They said, “The only deception present at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is that it claims to be a welcoming place for all,” according to the New York Times.
Family members also said the LGBTQ community would continue to celebrate Gentili — a high-profile activist who advocated for the trans community, sex workers and HIV/AIDS patients — for how she “ministered, mothered and loved all people.
“Her heart and hands reached those the sanctimonious church continues to belittle, oppress and chastise.”
An advocacy group, Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society, also said in a statement: “The current narrative from St. Patrick’s Cathedral leadership that they were manipulated by funeral organizers of the identity of Ms. Gentili is simply not true.
“Funeral organizers advised cathedral staff to look up Cecilia Gentili, her work, and the community she served,” the group said, according to the Catholic News Agency.
“To now place responsibility on the funeral organizers to have affirmatively disclosed the gender identity of their loved one is imposing a burden upon the mourners that would not be expected of a non-transgender person.”
Some activists are even calling for the Catholic church to apologize for cutting the joyous ceremony short, saying Gentili was denied her equal rights to a funeral.
“She does not deserve this. Her husband does not deserve this. Her family does not deserve this,” Ceyenne Doroshow said outside City Hall on Wednesday, according to New York 1 News.
She demanded the church also “apologize for the decades of degradation and hate you have put on our community.”
The Post has reached out to the Archdiocese of New York for comment.
It is believed that Gentili’s ceremony was the first-ever funeral service for a trans person at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Doroshow, who helped organize the funeral, said those close to Gentili wanted her to be memorialized at St. Patrick’s because the Fifth Avenue church “is an icon, just like her.”
But St. Patrick’s Cathedral is not among the handful of Catholic churches in the Big Apple that are LGBTQ-friendly — and Doroshow told the Times she never mentioned Gentili was transgender when she organized the funeral.
In the aftermath, the Rev. Enrique Salvo said in a statement that the church “only knew that family and friends were requesting a funeral Mass for a Catholic, and had no idea our welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive way.
“That such a scandal occurred at ‘America’s Parish Church’ makes it worse,” he continued, also noting that it happened just at the beginning of the holy season of Lent.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan also said, “We didn’t know the background” before agreeing to host the funeral Mass.
“We don’t do FBI checks on people who want to be buried,” he said in a podcast interview.
“All they know is somebody called and said, ‘Our dear friend died. We’d love to have the funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It would be a great source of consolation for us, her family and friends. She’s a Catholic.’”
“And of course, the priest at the cathedral said, ‘Come on in, you’re more than welcome.’”
Church officials would later hold a rare “Mass of Reparation” at the historic Midtown church to cleanse it of sin.
