Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS

Last week’s brouhaha by a gay activist who was demanding the removal of a priest after being denied communion seems to be unfolding into yet another embarrassment for the mainstream media who neglected to mention that the woman wasn’t even a Catholic – but a Buddhist!

Thomas Peters of CatholicVote.org is reporting that Barbara Johnson, the woman denied communion at her mother’s funeral because she was living with a female partner, made front-page news in the likes of The Washington Post last week, but a much needed follow-up is in order.

Apparently, Johnson has been quite glib about her private life. In a paper she wrote for Kutztown University entitled “Coming Out in the Heteronormative and Homophobic World of Education,” she tells this personal story:

“After 25 years of being openly lesbian, I felt I couldn’t put myself into a position to be closeted, even for a few months, but I thought it would be great fun to go back to my high school to teach art . . . So in my interview with the principal we talked openly about my being a lesbian and a Buddhist. The principal asked if I had any problem taking the kids to Catholic Mass every once in a while  . . .”

Even though Johnson kept this information to herself during all of the media interviews she conducted during her crusade to have Father Marcel Guarnizo removed from his post at St. John Newman church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, the fact that she was a Buddhist wasn’t that hard to find and at least one reporter should have been able to discover it. 

The fact that she hid this information proved to be deeply disturbing even to her friends. This comment was left on the MSNBC website by a person who identified themselves only as “a person who knows Barbara Johnson.” It reads:

“It pains me to no end to have to ‘Out’ Barbara Johnson on this one. She is being entirely disingenuous throughout this whole ordeal. She has made up half of the story and has used her own mother’s death as a platform to attack the Church she left years ago. Barbara is more Buddhist than any form of Christian, gay or not, the poor priest was set up, not permitted to have a discussion with Barbara before the service. He was accosted by Barbara’s lover before the Mass and was informed that they would go to Communion and he had ‘better not screw it up’ . . .  This was a coordinated and planned attack against the Church by a hate-filled woman who has had an ax to grind against the Church she left to practice Buddhism a very long time ago. She was denied Communion not because she is gay, but because she does not share the faith in the Eucharist which is required to receive it. Catholic priests, the last to ever reveal the sins of others, are the first to have their sins, even merely perceived ones, shouted out from the rooftops!

“Shame on you Barbara. You know who this is. We are no longer friends, I supported your rights, now I’m ashamed that I bought into your lies. If your sexuality is more important to you than faith, fine, that’s your choice. But quit blaming everyone else in the world for your choices. You have used your mother’s death in a way that is horrible and shameful. This poor priest did nothing wrong. He is known to be a kind and pius man who has never done anything but preach the Gospel faithfully. If you don’t share his views, again, fine, but shut up and go your own way. Stop trying to make a political point at the expense of a good man. . . . I bet Barbara’s mother is rolling around in her grave in shame at her daughter’s deceit and venom.”

Peters goes on to wonder about the curious timing of the whole affair which occurred just days after the Maryland legislature legalized gay marriage.

“That bill is going to be appealed this November at the Maryland ballot box and the Maryland Catholic Conference (which we saw Johnson’s twitter account attack) is going to play a significant role in ensuring that gay marriage is voted down there,” Peters writes.

“Is it any sort of stretch to see this attempt to malign Fr. Marcel and by extension the Catholic Church in Maryland as a blatantly political attempt by Johnson to generate sympathy and support for gay marriage and to foment public judgement against the Church? I think not.”

Peters goes on to express his disgust not only with the deceitful behavior of activists like Johnson, who deliberately hid her Buddhism from the press, but also with the media itself for running such a story without properly vetting it.

“Apparently, if a story paints the Catholic Church or a Catholic priest in a bad light, it gets green-lighted for publication with almost no due diligence. We Catholics deserve better.”

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