Go Without God, Says Catholic Priest to Missouri Lesbian

A Missouri lesbian couple said their Catholic priest denied them from receiving communion after he discovered their relationship. According to a recent article by Fox 4 News, Carol Parker and her partner of nearly 20 years, Josephine Martin, said that they were members of Saint Columban Catholic Church for 12 years, serving as lectors and singing in the choir.

But when Parker's mother died on December 26, and the obituary noted that she was survived by a son, a daughter and her daughter's partner, the priest said that communion was a no-go.

"He had called me the day of the rosary and said he wouldn't be able to give us communion because of our same-sex relationship," Parker told Fox 4 News. "It was very important to me, my last opportunity to worship here at the church with her."

Parker said that although the funeral was "very important to me my last opportunity to worship here at the church with her," that she will never step foot in that church again. She and her partner have found another church an hour away that welcomed them.

Fox 4 News said that they attempted to speak with Father Benjamin Kneib, but were told that he did not wish to comment.

"My faith is strong enough that I wasn't going to let this deter me to go to church," she said.