DC National Episcopal Cathedral to become LGBT ‘pilgrimage’ site with Matthew Shepard’s remains

Oct 13, 2018 by

by Calvin Freiburger, LifeSite:

The Washington National Cathedral in the country’s capital is slated to become an unlikely symbol of homosexual activism following the news that it will be the final resting place of murdered University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard.

The family of Shepard, a 21-year-old homosexual man brutally beaten to death in 1998, has decided to have his ashes interred in the crypt of the iconic Episcopal cathedral, the Washington Post reported. His parents had previously kept his ashes for fear of drawing unwanted attention to a public grave, but have now settled on the cathedral ahead of his murder’s 20th anniversary on Friday.

In a public service on October 26, his ashes will be placed in the private, off-limits crypt columbarium. One of just 200 to receive such a distinction, Shepard’s remains will join those of distinguished historical figures such as President Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller, and Navy Adm. George Dewey. The Daily Caller noted that the cathedral’s dean, the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, is responsible for selecting figures of national significance to inter.

The service will be presided over by Bishops Mariann Edgar Budde and Gene Robinson, the latter of whom is an open, “divorced” homosexual.

Robinson, who is friends with Shepard’s parents, suggested Wednesday that pro-LGBT activists turn the cathedral into a pilgrimage destination.

“(We have) the triangle, that reminds of what was used to brand us during the Holocaust, the rainbow flag, and we’ve got Matt Shepard, who became a symbol of how we are targets of violence,” he declared. “This could be a wonderful place for Matt’s ashes to rest, and where people could go and make a kind of pilgrimage (…) I think this could become a destination for LGBTQ people who have known violence in their own lives, which keeps being an issue, despite all the gains we’ve made.”

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