The US priest who denied Holy Communion to a lesbian woman at her mother's funeral has been suspended following allegations of intimidating behaviour towards parish staff, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
Father Thomas LaHood, pastor of St John Neumann Church in Gaithersburg, where the priest, Father Marcel Guarnizo had been parochial vicar for the past year, said the removal followed "credible allegations" that the priest "has engaged in intimidating behaviour toward parish staff and others that is incompatible with proper priestly ministry."
At Sunday Masses over the weekend, Fr LaHood read a letter from Bishop Barry C. Knestout, Washington Archdiocesan Vicar General, announcing Fr Guarnizo had been removed from the parish and barred from priestly ministry in the archdiocese until issues surrounding his behavior are resolved.
Before reading the letter, Fr LaHood said he had been in discussions with Bishop Knestout about Fr Guarnizo in the last week, but he said emphatically, "The issue discussed this week did not have to do with the distribution of Communion two weeks ago.
"Let me repeat that: The issue discussed this week did not have to do with the distribution of Communion two weeks ago. The issue pertains to actions over the past week or so."
FULL STORY
Priest who denied lesbian woman Communion suspended for other reasons (National Catholic Reporter)
PHOTO CREDIT
Sigfrid Lundberg on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic