New York Archdiocese denounces transgender activist’s funeral held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
The funeral of a renowned transgender activist in a New York cathedral elicited a denunciation of the event by a senior church official, who called the Mass a scandal within one of the preeminent houses of worship in U.S. Catholicism.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York condemned the funeral of Cecilia Gentili, which was held in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Thursday and drew a large audience.
Gentili was known as a leading advocate for other transgender people, as well as for sex workers and people with HIV. A post on her Instagram account announced her death on Feb. 6 at age 52.
In a written statement released Saturday, the Rev. Enrique Salvo, pastor of St. Patrick’s, thanked those who “share our outrage over the scandalous behavior” at the funeral.
“The Cathedral 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,” Salvo said.
Videos of Gentili’s funeral show an estimated audience of more than 1,000, including transgender people and other friends and supporters chanting her name, applauding, singing and offering praise of her stature as a leading light of the city’s LGBTQ+ community.
In one eulogy widely circulated on social media, Gentili was celebrated as “Saint Cecilia, the mother of all whores.”
Salvo called the behavior at the Mass a “scandal” and a “potent reminder of how much we need the prayer, reparation, repentance, grace, and mercy to which this holy season [of Lent] invites us.”
In a statement, Gentili’s family denied that the church had been deceived and said the gathering “brought precious life and radical joy to the Cathedral in historic defiance of the Church’s hypocrisy and anti-trans hatred.”
“The only deception present at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is that it claims to be a welcoming place for all,” the family said.
A former sex worker who suffered addiction and was jailed at Rikers Island, Gentili became a transgender health program coordinator, a nonprofit policy director for the gay men’s health organization GMHC, a lobbyist for health equality and anti-discrimination legislation, and did other advocacy.
Gentili founded the COIN Clinic, short for Cecilia’s Occupational Inclusion Network, a free health program for sex workers through the Callen-Lorde community health organization in New York.
“New York’s LGBTQ+ community has lost a champion in trans icon Cecilia Gentili,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on X after Gentili’s death.
Gentili acted in the FX television series “Pose,” about the underground ballroom dance scene in the 1980s and 1990s. She also performed two onewoman stage shows.
“I am an atheist, but I am always asking God for things,” Gentili said in “Red Ink,” her autobiographical show touching on topics including her childhood in Argentina and lack of religious faith.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a Manhattan architectural and tourist landmark, has been the site of funerals for numerous prominent New Yorkers including Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, the baseball player Babe Ruth and emergency responders who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
The conservative group CatholicVote condemned “Pose” actor Billy Porter, whose singing performance at the funeral the group called a mockery of the “Our Father” prayer. “This is just unbelievable and sick,” CatholicVote said on X.