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 in Manhattan's St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Thursday. The 52-year-old was a leading advocate for transgender people, sex workers and people with HIV. The pastor of Saint Patrick’s says the cathedral only knew of a request for a Catholic funeral mass and has denounced behavior at the event. Gentili’s family denied that the church had been deceived and said the funeral “brought ... joy to the Cathedral," despite the church's anti-trans views.
