Modena, Sep 10, 2007 / 10:49 am (CNA).- Luciano Pavarotti, the world renowned tenor was laid to rest in Modena’s cathedral with a grand funeral which paid tribute to the opera legend and gave witness to his return to the Catholic faith.
The diocese had received criticisms that it had gone overboard in honoring a remarried divorcé. But Pavarotti’s parish priest, Fr. Remo Sartori, said the twice-married singer had been reconciled with the Catholic faith, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Pavarotti had received the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick before losing his battle against pancreatic cancer last Thursday, aged 71.
Church leaders and pastors, including Pope Benedict XVI, sent messages conveying their condolences. The Pope’s message expressed his sorrow at the loss of "a great artist who with his extraordinary interpretative talent honored the divine gift of music".
7 comments
That is what happens when people judge w/o knowing all the facts.
This was NEVER about judging Pavarotti’s soul. It WAS about judging the actions of church officials who otherwise were irresponsible in not making all the facts known before giving a notorious, public sinner a funeral.
May Pavarotti rest in peace. Welcome home, Pavarotti!
If you had watched it on TV, it wasn’t so much a funeral as it was a canonization ceremony.
The Church does not necessarily have a responsiblility to make known all the facts it has on hand, for the satisfaction of the curious or, a bit more pointedly, the curiosity of the nosey.
Everyone has a responsibility to refrain from judgment of actions, even the actions of the Church, when it doesn’t have a thing to do with one’s personal situation.
The judgment of the Church’s actions that is rationalized in the earlier comment, I think, presumes a “bad faith” — that the Church had some bad intention in celebrating Pavarotti’s funeral Mass. The truth is that some people are prejudiced against the Church, and had pre-judged this situation. Even the Church deserves the benefit of the doubt, until malice otherwise demonstrated, cf., St. Ignatius of Loyola’s “Spiritual Exercises.”
I’m with you, Fr. Stanley. Thanks for the comment.
We can find another reason to give the Church (or anyone else for that matter) the benefit of the doubt when we remembering that we will be judged with as much mercy as we show others.
The Church has absolutely no obligation to let me know when its members have normalized their marriage relationships with the Church. Even the most severe defects which invalidate a marriage can often be handled with a simple a renewal of vows requiring only two witnesses besides the priest (assuming impediments have been removed).
I have no need to know when impediments are removed nor when vows get renewed with ecclesial witness. Charity thus obliges me to afford the benefit of the doubt and to refrain from asking nosey questions.
Thank you for reminding us of this, Fr. Stanley.
There must have been great joy in heaven when this lost sheep returned to the fold.