A parish priest in a small Andalusian town has come under sustained protest after informing a parishioner in a civil same-sex marriage that he could no longer receive Holy Communion, citing the public and persistent nature of the union as incompatible with the Church’s discipline for the Eucharist.

On May 30, following Sunday Mass at the Parish of San Fernando in Villanueva del Río y Minas near Seville, the priest, identified in local reports as Fr Manuel C, asked José Antonio Hurtado to remain behind. According to Hurtado’s public account, the priest told him he would no longer administer the Eucharist because Hurtado’s same-sex “marriage” – widely known in the town – placed him in a state of manifest grave sin.

Hurtado alleged the priest described previous administrations of Communion as giving him “poison” and stated that both he and his partner were “unworthy” and at risk of eternal purgatory. Hurtado raised his voice outside the church, recounting the exchange to bystanders and later posting details on social media.

In a follow-up meeting on June 2, the priest reportedly apologised for the tone of the initial conversation but maintained his position. According to Hurtado: “He reiterated that he could not give me Communion because I am publicly married to a man – the whole town knows about my marriage – and doing so would be tantamount to validating my position.” Hurtado has since informed local media of his intention to publicise the matter further.

The incident has divided the town of roughly 4,000 inhabitants, a former mining community in the province of Seville. Some residents have expressed support for the priest, describing him as faithful to Church teaching and consistent in applying sacramental discipline to various irregular situations, including divorced and remarried couples and others. Others, including Hurtado, who claims four decades of involvement in the parish and local brotherhoods, have organised protests and accused the priest of humiliation and discrimination.

The Archdiocese of Seville has confirmed it is gathering information on the case before issuing any statement. No disciplinary action against the priest has been announced.

Catholic teaching on the matter is longstanding and unambiguous. Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law states that those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin” are not to be admitted to Holy Communion. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and “under no circumstances can they be approved”, CCC 2357, while calling for respect and sensitivity towards persons with same-sex attraction, CCC 2358. The public nature of a same-sex civil marriage, which presents itself as equivalent to sacramental matrimony, has historically been understood by many canonists and pastors as creating an objective situation of scandal that precludes admission to the Eucharist without repentance and amendment of life.

This case echoes earlier controversies, including that of Fr Marcel Guarnizo in the Archdiocese of Washington in 2012, who denied Communion to a woman in a lesbian relationship at her mother’s funeral and was subsequently removed from ministry. Similar incidents in recent years have tested the willingness of bishops to support priests who apply established sacramental discipline amid growing cultural pressure.

Supporters of the priest in Villanueva del Río y Minas argue he is simply upholding the Church’s perennial doctrine on marriage and the Eucharist at a time when many clerics hesitate to do so. Local commentary has noted the priest’s reported consistency across cases involving irregular unions, not limited to same-sex situations. Critics, including Hurtado, invoke Pope Francis’s phrase that “the Church is a home for everyone” to suggest a more inclusive approach to sacramental access.

The episode occurs against a backdrop of deepening polarisation in Spain over the Church’s moral teaching. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2005, and public expressions of traditional Catholic doctrine on sexuality increasingly attract accusations of discrimination.

The priest has not issued a public statement. His actions, however, have drawn both condemnation from activist quarters and appreciation from those who see in them a necessary defence of the integrity of the Blessed Sacrament and the Church’s witness to the nature of marriage as the lifelong union of man and woman ordered to the procreation and education of children. The Archdiocese’s forthcoming response will be closely watched by Catholics concerned with the coherence of sacramental practice in increasingly hostile cultural conditions.