On X (formerly Twitter), CatholicVote described the service as a staged “mockery of the Christian faith INSIDE St. Patrick’s Cathedral” by trans activists.
Others called for Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the Archdiocese of New York to respond to what they considered to be sacrilege.
“Is Cardinal Dolan planning to make reparations and exorcise and consecrate the altar and nave?” said one X user, apparently in reference to steps the Diocese of Brooklyn took when a pop star performed an inappropriate music video in the sanctuary of a parish church.
Many of the 1,000 in attendance wore drag and scanty outfits. At the foot of the altar stood an image of the Argentinian-born Gentili with a halo, surrounded by the Spanish words for “whore,” “transvestite,” “blessed,” and “mother.”
Trans activist Oscar Diaz told Time it “felt appropriate” to say farewell to Gentili with a funeral service at St. Patrick’s, describing the event as an act of bestowing “sainthood” on the transgender advocate.
The service for Gentili was marked by several moments that were out of the ordinary for a Catholic funeral and have raised questions of irreverence and sacrilege.
For instance, during the liturgy, attendees cheered, applauded, and chanted “Cecilia!” and “madre de putas” — Spanish for “mother of whores.”
A rendition of the “Ave Maria” by the cathedral cantor was interrupted when an attendee shouted “Ave Cecilia!” and danced down the center aisle.
A mid-liturgy lay reflection given from the sanctuary compared Gentili’s advocacy for normalizing sex work and lobbying for gender-related health care to Christ’s ministry to prostitutes and outcasts.
In another reflection, Diaz described the deceased as “this whore, this great whore, St. Cecilia, mother of all whores.” Those assembled stood and applauded as Father Dougherty remained seated in the presider’s chair, his chin in his hand.
After attending Baptist and Catholic churches, Gentili had identified as an atheist though suggested a recent interest in God in a November 2023 interview.
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“Religion has been such a foundational aspect of my life that I’ll always have some kind of connection to it. I still crave a sense of community and belonging that I know a lot of people find in faith,” Gentili said.
Jonathan Liedl is senior editor for the National Catholic Register. His background includes state Catholic conference work, three years of seminary formation, and tutoring at a university Christian study center. Liedl holds a B.A. in Political Science and Arabic Studies (Univ. of Notre Dame), an M.A. in Catholic Studies (Univ. of St. Thomas), and is currently completing an M.A. in Theology at the Saint Paul Seminary.
Matt McDonald is a staff reporter for the National Catholic Register and the editor of the New Boston Post.
