Church denies funeral for gay bar owner
Associated Press
SUMMARY: San Diego's Roman Catholic bishop has denied funeral rites
to a man who owned a bar and a dance club popular with gays, citing a
clash with the Church's moral teachings.
San Diego's Roman Catholic bishop has
denied funeral rites to a man who owned a bar and a dance club popular
with gays, citing a clash with the Church's moral teachings.
John McCusker, who was gay, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at a ski resort, his family said.
Arrangements had been made to hold
funeral services at the Immaculata Catholic Church on the University of
San Diego campus, McCusker's alma mater that is affiliated with the
Church.
But San Diego Bishop Robert Brom decided
none of the 98 Catholic churches in San Diego or Imperial counties
could provide funeral rites for McCusker, who was 31.
"The facts regarding the business
activities of John McCusker were not known by Church officials when
arrangements were requested for his funeral," the diocese said Thursday
in a statement.
"However, when these facts became known,
the bishop concluded that to avoid public scandal Mr. McCusker cannot
be granted a funeral in a Catholic church or chapel in the Diocese of
San Diego."
Chancellor Rodrigo Valdivia said the Church's decision was not related to McCusker's sexual orientation.
"His business is adult entertainment, which is inconsistent with Catholic teaching," Valdivia said.
"People would be scandalized that the Church granted a funeral to a person who had this type of business activity."
Valdivia cited a Church canon that states
"manifest sinners" are among those who cannot be granted funeral rites
"without public scandal to the faithful."
Valdivia could not recall any examples of
other cases in which the diocese has invoked the canon to deny funeral
rites to Catholics.
Other dioceses have sometimes denied
funeral Masses for mobsters, including John Gotti. In other cases
across the country, some priests accused of sexual abuse have been
granted Catholic funeral services, including John Geoghan, the Boston
Archdiocese former priest whose sex-abuse case helped spark a
nationwide Church scandal.
McCusker owned Club Montage, a nightclub popular with gays, and ReBar, a gay bar.
Several gay community leaders said they
planned to file a formal protest with the diocese and demand that Brom
apologize to McCusker's family.
A memorial service for McCusker on Friday was moved to an Episcopal church in San Diego.
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