Nov 12, 2007 / 08:23 am
A Baltimore pastor has been removed from ministry for celebrating a funeral Mass with an Episcopal minister, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Father Martin said a funeral Mass on October 15 at Our Lady of Good Counsel parish for local activist Ann Shirley Doda.
Several clergy, including Episcopal minister Reverend Annette Chappell, took part in the Mass. Reverend Chappell read the Gospel at Mass, a task reserved to Catholic priests and deacons. Though Reverend Chappell did not take part in the consecration, someone at the service reported that Father Martin gestured to her to receive Holy Communion, which may only be received by Catholics in a state of grace.
Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said Father Martin had committed many other administrative and liturgical offenses.