The question is: Was it what is called “licit”—ecclesiastical jargon for “legal”—for her to have received a Catholic funeral Mass? And from the co-cathedral of the Cardinal Archbishop of Houston to boot?
We instinctively know that it was grossly inappropriate for the Archdiocese of Galveston- Houston to have permitted such a public mocker of life to be given a Catholic funeral Mass. It’s shocking, repugnant. But was it canonically legal, licit?
The answer is presumptively:
No, it was not. This is because Canon Law 1184,paragraph 1, number 3, provides that “Church funeral rites are to be denied to,” amongst others, “manifest sinners to whom a Church funeral could not be granted without public scandal to the faithful . . . unless they gave some sign of repentance before their death.”
We have no evidence whatsoever that Lisa Raquel Benitez ever repudiated her very public, continuous, and wicked ways of supporting the annihilation of the most innocent of God’s children, the unborn.
To the contrary, the obituary in the Houston Chronicle glorifying her life of evil surely could never have been sent to print if she repudiated her manifest and public life of sin before her death.
Many Catholics in Houston could hardly believe their ears when news got around—and it did get around, fast...
Lisa Benitez
1967 - 2014 | Obituary| Condolences
Lisa Raquel Benitez
1967-2014
Lisa Raquel Benitez passed away peacefully while surrounded by family on Saturday, December 27, 2014. Lisa was born on December 31, 1967, in Houston, Texas, and is survived by her parents... http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?pid=173638763
1967-2014
Lisa Raquel Benitez passed away peacefully while surrounded by family on Saturday, December 27, 2014. Lisa was born on December 31, 1967, in Houston, Texas, and is survived by her parents... http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?pid=173638763
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