The Archdiocese of New York questioned the
funeral of Cecilia Gentili
, the Argentine trans activist who died two weeks ago and who was farewelled at the iconic St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue.
"Sacrilegious and misleading
," was how the New York Archdiocese described the ceremony that took place last Thursday, which attracted a crowd of more than a thousand people and in which the actress was defined as "the mother of all whores."
In a statement, the Rev. Enrique Salvo, rector of the cathedral, said his office did not know that its "welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and misleading manner."
The funeral for Cecilia Gentili brought together more than a thousand worshipers, many of them transgender, who wore outlandish clothing and demanded the protection of reproductive health and the rights of the group spoken by some of the attendees, according to The New York
Times
. .
In a video that went viral on social networks, one of the participants can be heard referring to Cecilia, in Spanish, as "this whore,
this great whore, the holy Cecilia, the mother of all whores"
, while the public breaks to applaud
The funeral of Argentine trans activist Cecilia Gentili in New York.
The conservative group that posted the video, CatholicVote, called the funeral "a parody of the Christian faith."
Gentili identified herself as an atheist.
In his statement released Saturday, Rev. Salvo said the cathedral only knew that the activist's family and friends had requested "a funeral mass for a Catholic person."
The response of the family of the trans activist
Gentili's family, in a message to
The New York Times
, accused the archdiocese of being
hypocritical and hating trans people
.
"The only deception present in St. Patrick's Cathedral is that it claims to be a place that welcomes everyone," they said.
Cecilia Gentili, the Argentine trans actress who was a key activist in New York.
Instagram Photo
"We brought precious life and extreme joy to the Cathedral in a historic challenge to the hypocrisy and anti-trans hatred of the Church. The funeral of Cecilia Gentili, which filled the pews in a way that the Cathedral can only do during the Easter service and the funerals of the NYPD, was a reflection of the love he had for his community and a testimony to the impact of his tireless defense," they indicated from Gentili's entourage.
The activist, who was known for defending the rights of sex workers and people with HIV, even dedicated a play to her complicated relationship with religion.
In an interview in November with Interview magazine on the occasion of the premiere of her new work, 'Red Ink', Gentili explained that she felt so rejected by all Christian groups for being trans that she ended up abandoning her faith.
With information from EFE