Gay Oppression After Death

Club Owner Denied Catholic Funeral Services

Last Updated:
03-18-05 at 11:31AM

Funeral services for a businessman whose nightclubs cater to gays were being held at an Episcopal church Friday after San Diego's Catholic bishop, in an unusual step, ruled out Catholic services for the man.

Bishop Robert Brom decided not to allow any of the 98 Roman Catholic churches in San Diego or Imperial counties to hold services for Club Montage owner John McCusker Jr. because the diocese deemed his business "inconsistent with Catholic moral teaching."

McCusker, 31, died Sunday of congestive heart failure while vacationing in Mammoth.

McCusker's family, said to comprise devout Catholics, planned a funeral at the Immaculata Catholic Church on the campus of the University of San Diego, where McCusker attended school. But Brom nixed the idea.

"The facts regarding the business activities of John McCusker were not known by church officials when arrangements were requested for his funeral," the Roman Catholic Diocese said in a statement this morning.

"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 in the chapel of the Diocese of San Diego."

Brom's move is allowed under a rarely used provision in Catholic canon law usually reserved for the gravest of sinners, according to the Rev. John J. Coughlin, an internationally respected professor of canon law at the University of Notre Dame.

"Bishops usually refuse a funeral to someone if it would cause mass scandal within the church," Coughlin said. "This is something usually reserved for organized crime figures. I've never heard it applied to the owner of a gay club. Denying someone a Catholic funeral is rarely ever done."

Coughlin said the move is discretionary, but it would have to be taken by a bishop "for a very notorious reason."

"The bishop must also consider whether the person reconciled with God before their death," Coughlin said. "But it is sometimes difficult to determine a man's relationship with God in the moments before his death."

McCusker's funeral, scheduled to start at 11 a.m., was being held at St. Paul's Cathedral near Balboa Park, followed by burial at 3 p.m. at Temecula Public Cemetery in Temecula.

"Our basic philosophy at the cathedral is whoever you are and wherever you find yourself on the journey of faith, we welcome you," said the Very Rev. Scott Richardson, St. Paul's dean.

McCusker's popular nightclub, Club Montage, caters to a straight crowd Friday nights and a gay crowd Saturday nights. He also owned a gay bar in North Park called ReBar.