and was it handled differently?

Because to claim this is an indication of change implies that we have knowledge that this kind of event would have been handled differently before.

I'm all teared up. What a tragic death. But a beautiful way to honor him in death.


Pleased to note the changes in the church. That shows true love and compassion.

And why, one might wonder, are they making such a public display of this, months after the event, if not simply for PR purposes?

Why, too, is hosting a funeral "mercy"? Maybe if the Jesuits had shown more compassion while he was alive, he wouldn't have been killed at all. He was desperate for someone to help him out of his "ugly life"...where were the Jesuits then?

Had the Jesuites,been doing it right had they shown the same acceptance before the transperson required a funeral. That would have been ideal.

I hope it is not a publicity stunt. Aren't the Jesuites the intellectual wing of the orders?

At the very least someone is 'thinking' about doing the kind and respectful thing for someone they might consider the least of their brethren.

was "well known to charity workers," so he apparently was receiving help of some kind before he required a funeral.

The Jebbies, by the way, have a long and honorable record in social justice work.

I hope that the murderer or murderers are caught and prosecuted. It would be nice to see justice served.


What kind of monster perpetrates a crime like this on any human being. Sick, twisted creep. I hope if they have a conscience it goes to work on them and eats them from the inside out. Maybe that makes me awful. too. But this act makes me feel vengeful. Maybe blaming church policy would make me feel like my anger is better placed.

Sometimes that includes people who believe they know what an all-powerful god thinks about how we should or shouldn't run our lives, and who will reward or punish us accordingly.

Pathetic.

Attended a Jesuit High School?

I did...and we called them "The Jebbies".
Its been a long time since I've heard that (1968).

I'm grateful to "The Jebbies" for my education,
but, more importantly, the critical thinking skills
and the confidence to follow my conscience.

In New Orleans, the men that went to the Jesuit HS tend to be some of the most progressive and thoughtful men in the community.

Have you read The Sparrow by any chance? It's about the first human trip to a known inhabited planet and part of the chosen crew are Jesuits.

with the occasional Marist as guest teacher. I share your gratitude to my own teachers, and for the same reasons.

I've since had the pleasure of working with members of all three orders on social justice issues.

I doubt this is a media event orchestrated by the Jesuits. If you think about it the media tends to cover stories having similar themes. If there is an accident involving and aircraft- every toilet malfunction or whatever on airliners gets coverage. It's a case of laziness. We see the same thing in cinema- a movie is a hit and the greedy producers make one or more lousy sequels to "capitalize" on it.

What I see is that Francis is a Phenom and the media is out looking for stuff to report. This doesn't mean this is not a story worth of coverage. But would not have seen the light in a different place and time.

I also wonder, being transgendered, if he would rather be referred to as she.

That's not the way they should be but I can see some I know rejecting their son or daughter for being transgender, intersex or gay.

Maybe get word how the Jesuits took care of their child they will be properly ashamed.

What sort of institution might have taught them that something is wrong or sinful with being transgender, intersex, or gay?

It does not have to be taught. What needs to be taught is to love. Hate comes easy.

But it often is, and there is one very large institution, most undoubtedly prominent in that family's life, that definitely teaches any form of human sexuality other than heterosexual sex within marriage is sinful and wrong. I understand why no one wants to talk about that.

What is this mystery organization of which you are commenting on?

Bryant

Because they are responsible for creating the conditions that led to her death?

Bryant

You know, fuck it. The RCC is great, the new pope is awesome, and what they did for this person is such a wonderful example of compassion and change and everything is just going to be perfect.

There. Is that better? I'm not out there teaching millions of children that homosexuality is "intrinsically disordered," but here I am on a message board inquiring as to what role that kind of teaching might have in the acceptance of people like the murder victim, and that makes me the bad guy. What the fuck ever.

And it does seem based on your response that I hit the nail on the head, but if I misjudged you, than please clarify. Does the Catholic Church, in your opinion, bear some culpability in this poor ladies death?

I think that what happened in this case does seem very compassionate, but that doesn't mean that they are great or perfect or anything like that. I hope that it's a sign that this pope is changing things.

Bryant

Now that you've dropped the name-calling bomb elsewhere, it is clear that you have dismissed me as an "anti-Catholic crank," and aren't going to listen to anything I say anyway. You don't want to see any contrary opinions in threads praising a positive action by the new pope or speculation about "change" within it, and have now shown how low you're willing to stoop.

Good for the Jesuit order for stepping up to the plate here. True compassion.

would have involved helping this poor person before he was beaten to death, not using his corpse as a PR tool.

You may not agree, but differences of opinion are what this board is all about.

Your efforts to portray the burial of this man as PR is itself PR it its worst.

And thankfullfor the charities that help him when he was around

It was a Catholic priest in Laramie, Father Roger Schmit, who organized the vigil for him.

about everyone.

Still breaks my heart. I can't think about it without crying for the way he was killed. I am not religious by nature but I feel the warmest regards for the church stepping up in this case as well.

I'm assuming, since you refer to the victim as a transgender man, that he was FtM (female to male.) Is that correct?

I'm posting from my Kindle, and it has difficulties with more than one open window.

refers to Andrea exclusively with male pronouns.

My husband was able to translate some of the Italian articles, and he says they refer to Andrea with feminine pronouns.

said that the priest who performed the service exclusively used female pronouns during the ceremony "because that is what she used".

It is a disservice to her.

All I caught was "the family of Andrea".

He's fluent, so if you want anything in particular translated, you could ask him.

It seems that the church not only assisted her in life but respected her in death. Do the articles have any other information about her family?

He's a bit under the weather, but we shall see.

From the stub here I was thinking it was FtM.

Its almost sickening how disrespectful some newspapers can be when dealing with transexuals. There was a link tob one here on DU not long ago in which the articles author referred to a murdered transexual as "he" and "it." The author also thought it was appropriate to bring up the poor woman's completely irrelevant criminal history.

use female pronouns in almost every case.

So did the priest who performed the ceremony.

It must have been a tough slog for her at times. Kudos to the Church of the Gesù.