Catholic officials in New York held a Mass of Reparation on Saturday following what it called “scandalous behavior” at a Thursday funeral for Cecilia Gentili, an atheist transgender woman and former sex worker lauded by mourners as the “mother of all whores.”
Gentili died Feb. 6 at age 52 of undisclosed causes.
The Feb. 15 service drew a crowd estimated at more than 1,000 to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, one of the most prominent Catholic parishes in the nation. The funerals of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, baseball legend George Herman “Babe” Ruth, and several World Trade Center 9/11 first responders have been held there, and the structure is a Fifth Avenue landmark.
Media accounts of the Gentili funeral said the crowd included transgender activists and others dressed so flamboyantly that the Rev. Edward Dougherty, who the New York Daily News said presided at the Mass, took note.
“Except on Easter Sunday, we don’t really have a crowd that is this well turned out, you know?” the newspaper quoted Father Dougherty.
A video posted to X by Catholic Vote, a conservative group, shows the crowd cheering, applauding and standing when a speaker, in Spanish with subsequent translation, called Gentili “This whore. This great whore. Saint Cecilia, mother of all whores!”
The New York Times quoted funeral organizer Ceyenne Doroshow as saying the family kept Gentili’s background secret, fearing the cathedral would not hold a funeral for a transgender person. She told the newspaper that St. Patrick’s was the desired location because “it is an icon, just like her.”
As word of the flamboyant service spread, church officials denounced the apparent deception in securing the venue.
The Very Rev. Enrique Salvo, the cathedral’s pastor since 2021, said in a statement: “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.”
The priest thanked those who expressed “outrage over the scandalous behavior at a funeral here.” He said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who heads the Archdiocese of New York and whose residence is behind the cathedral, gave a “directive” for the Mass of Reparation to be said. Such a Mass is said to atone for sacrilege committed against Jesus.
“That such a scandal occurred at ‘America’s Parish Church’ makes it worse; that it took place as Lent was beginning, the annual forty-day struggle with the forces of sin and darkness, is a potent reminder of how much we need the prayer, reparation, repentance, grace, and mercy to which this holy season invites us,” Father Salvo said.
The Gentili family lashed back, telling the Daily News, “The only deception present at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is that it claims to be a welcoming place for all.”
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.