Who Is Rev. Marcel Guarnizo And What Is He Doing In Washington, DC?

March 16, 2012
Homosexual sympathizers have been calling for the crucifixion of Rev. Marcel Guarnizo. They will continue to crank out rage in spite of apologies and sanctioning. That's all very predictable.

Among orthodox Catholics, some of the faithful have been saying that Guarnizo ought to be a bishop because of a fine pro-life speech he made and that the Archdiocese of Washington, DC is "throwing him under the bus" -- a phrase I've seen often in blog postings -- because he stood up to a lesbian.

Unfortunately, stuff like that from orthodox catholics has also become very predictable.

Few, including those who wish that Guarnizo be mitred, seem to be asking: Who is this guy? Who is Marcel Guarnizo?

He is a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Moscow.

Next question: What is a priest of the Archdiocese of Moscow doing in a parish in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC?

Biographical facts about Fr. Guarnizo are noticeably scarce. He was born in the Republic of Colombia, raised in Arlington, Virginia, went to Bishop O'Connell High School. A Larouchie tale of conspiracy that, true to form, makes a reader's head spin, places Guarnizo at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Great Falls, VA.

One of the notables connected with that big-shot parish was Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent and member of Opus Dei who was convicted of selling secrets to the Russians of both the soviet and current varieties.

Then the curriculum vitae trails off into obscurity. Guarnizo "studied theology and philosophy at a seminary in Rome." WHICH SEMINARY?! I have yet to see any indication of how old he actually is. He appears to be in his 40s.

His age should be of interest because of the two organizations that he founded. For the work of a middle-aged man of whom few have ever heard, Aid to the Church in Russia (ACR)(1), and Educational Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe (EICEE)(2) have pretty impressive boards of advisors. Bishops, lords, former ministers and World Bank officials are numbered among the members. The late Vaclav Havel was an advisor of EICEE.

Aid to the Church in Russia and EICEE have an Arlington, Virginia, address. This may be a reason why Guarnizo is across the Potomac River at a parish in Gaithersburg, Maryland. EICEE also has offices in Vienna, Austria and several other European countries.

Guarnizo also serves on the board of The Unitas Foundation, another organization concerned with post-communist-European affairs.

Question about these organizations: Who is backing them? Or as someone who is rude and wildly speculative might ask: Are they fronts for anything?

Is it a good bet that the proximity of The Mother of God community has something to do with Marcel Guarnizo being at St. John Neumann?

I think that the location of a place is sometimes interesting and significant. The following is known mainly by locals -- No blogger has thus far noted it -- but St. John Neumann Church, where Marcel Guarnizo was serving as parochial vicar when the communion controversy blew, is located right across Goshen Road from the Mother of God charismatic community (4).

A director of the Mother of God community of several recent years was active in evangelization efforts in post-communist Russia just as Guarnizo is.

I also think that who sits on what boards is interesting. By the way, never trust any organization that does not publish its board membership.

As it happens, Guarnizo's Aid to the Church in Russia's board of advisors includes one of the most prominent charismatic Catholics in the U.S., practically a founder of the movement.

There are many reasons to suppose that this board member and the former director of Mother of God know each other, one of those reasons being that they are both currently on the faculty of the same seminary.

Mother's Place

If Guarnizo is involved with charismatic Catholics, is he also connected with Hogar de la Madre (Home of The Mother)? (5)

How does one explain "Hogar de la Madre"? It's a "parallel-church" movement, kind of like Opus Dei and The Legion of Christ. In other words it's one of those outfits that are cooked up in Europe because parish life is non-existent there. However Spain-based Hogar de la Madre is so obscure, there is not even, as of 3/15/12, a Wikipedia entry on it.

I do not see any reason to believe that there is anything sinister about Home of The Mother. However if Opus Dei, LC-RC and charismatic catholicism are not one's cup of tea, as they are not mine, Hogar will not be either.

There are a couple of interesting things about Hogar de la Madre that are coincident with Guarnizo. "Defense of The Eucharist" is one of its stated missions. The movement is also reaching out to Central and Eastern Europe with versions of its web site that are in Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovenian. And one of the reticulae in its broad net of interests and activities are "charismatic encounters."

The velvet-covered fist

Thus far, the most revealing thing about Marcel Guarnizo was his statement issued on March 14, 2012 (6), two days after the Archdiocese of Washington "withdrew the faculty," i.e.,permission to function as a priest in the archdiocese. This does not mean that Guarnizo was "fired" or kicked out of the priesthood.

To Guarnizo partisans, the letter may seem to be poor-picked-on Father's side of the story. However, based on my careful reading of it as a long-time observer of priests-in-trouble, the defensive missive is a velvet glove covering a fist. It does not bode a quick and quiet end to this controversy.

In its text there is no humble "I should have obediently observed the communion policy of the archdiocese I'm serving in."

It really does not matter what actually happened at the funeral Mass where the lesbian presented herself for communion. The archdiocesan policy skews toward giving people communion unless the cardinal archbishop himself specifically decides that they should not receive it.

There are times when the Body of Christ present in The Eucharist is not reverenced as it should be. To borrow words from Guarnizo's letter, "the ideal cannot always be achieved in life." But ya know what? If there's any abuse of His body, Jesus can take it.

Instead Guarnizo wrote "I did the only thing a faithful Catholic priest could do in such an awkward situation." This looks to me like the "positioning" that I wrote of in Celebritrgy And Their Enablers (link at right). The writer is implying All those other guys who don't do what I do, who follow the archdiocesan policy, are not faithful!

And it is clear that Guarnizo disdains the policy. He states, "It seems to me, the lack of clarity on this most basic issue puts at risk other priests who wish to serve the Catholic Church in Washington D.C."

With the sentence including "withdraw faculties (not suspend, since Cardinal Wuerl is not my bishop)," he is pointing out that Cardinal Wuerl is "not the boss of me."

Then he implies that the pastor of St. John Neumann parish is a liar: "And indeed contrary to the statement read on Sunday, March 11th during all Masses at St. John Neumann, both instances have everything to do with the Eucharistic incident."

What the pastor, Fr. Thomas LaHood said: "The issue discussed this week did not have to do with the distribution of Communion two weeks ago. Let me repeat that: The issue discussed this week did not have to do with the distribution of Communion two weeks ago. The issue pertains to actions over the past week or so."(7)

In my opinion, between the lines of this letter is the following message to Cardinal Wuerl and Bishop Barry Knestout: I have a number of flock out here at the crossroads of Goshen and Warfield who lionize me because I talk the pro-life talk and stand up to gays and who moreover already suspect that you guys are capitulators to the homosexual agenda and soft on life issues as well. You let me go my way or I'll keep pounding the wedge.

I hope that I'm wrong because at this time, the leadership of the American Church does not need any more distractions and wedge-pounding.

"What are you doing here, Father?"

The conclusion of this question-asking is not meant to suggest that Fr. Guarnizo has done anything awful-awful for which he is hiding out in the Washington Archdiocese.

However Catholics -- including gung-ho pro-lifers who are ready to make living saints of anybody who says what they like to hear -- should recall the long and lamentable history of child-molesting priests who moved from their home dioceses to others.

Because of that, the faithful should be vigilant, without being crazy-vigilant, and reasonably wonder why any priests from other dioceses are lingering in theirs.

In most cases, of course, a visiting priest's presence in Washington is completely legitimate and innocent. He is earning degrees at Catholic U. or on special assignment.

Here's an idea: diocesan Catholic papers could make theselves useful by publishing photos, bios, purposes-of-visit of all alien priests.

Catholics are entitled to up-front, adequate explanations of visiting priests' presence. Indeed Catholics should demand them if necessary. We wouldn't want pro-life pillars of the church to display the laxity, the subjectivity and the double standards of liberals, would we?

(1) Aid to the Church in Russia

(2) EICEE - Educational Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe

(3) Unitas Foundation

(4) Mother of God Community

(5) Home of The Mother

(6) "Father Marcel Guarnizo: 'I Did The Only Thing a Faithful Catholic Priest Could Do'," CNS On-Line, 3/14/2012

(7) "Priest who denied lesbian woman Communion suspended for other reasons" Jerry Filteau, National Catholic Reporter, 3/13/2012