Funeral prompts firing of priest

Liz F. Kay and Kelly Brewington reported in the Baltimore Sun, November 9, 2007, on Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien ordering the removal of Father Ray Martin as pastor of three parishes. The last straws were at a funeral Mass at which Fr. Martin had an Episcopal priest read the Gospel and invited her to receive communion.

We had something similar happen in the "pulpit exchange" on the Sunday of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January. A Lutheran minister preached at St. Al's and later received Communion from our then-pastor. Not a last straw for him, he only received instructions from "higher up" not to do this again.

I had earlier talked with our pastor about how his using General Absolution for the religious education students' penance service contradicted what the parish had me teaching some of the same students about Church practice. Had I heard at the time of the intercommunion issue, I could have pointed out in the text a discussion beginning,

You may have wondered, for example, why you can't receive communion at your friend's Lutheran service, nor she at our Catholic Mass.
--Michael Amodei, Send Out Your Spirit: A Confirmation Candidate's Handbook for Faith (2003) p. 92.

Since the earlier conversation about confession made no difference, I assume a later conversation about communion wouldn't either. I've raised similar issues with pastors before and after him, so far without effect.

P.S. The Sun followed up on November 10, 2007, Priest's resigning angers residents, illustrated with a photo of Joyce Bauerle, 65, Colleen Rosenbach, 69, and Helen Kazmarek, 81.

(via Terry Mattingly at Get Religion)