SAN DIEGO -- Members of San
Diego's gay and lesbian community will meet Monday night to discuss how
to respond to Bishop Robert Brom's decision not to allow Catholic
funeral services for the owner of a popular local nightclub.
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 March 13 of congestive heart failure while
vacationing in Mammoth. More than 500 people attended funeral services
on Friday at St. Paul's Cathedral, an Episcopal church.
Members of San Diego's gay and lesbian community, outraged that McCusker
was denied a Catholic funeral, will meet tonight to discuss ways of
responding to Brom's decision. Protests at the diocese office or at
local churches are one option, organizers said.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of San Diego, 3909 Centre
Street.
In addition, the leadership of Dignity USA, a group made up of gay and
lesbian Catholics based in Washington, D.C., is calling on Brom to
apologize to McCusker's family.
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.
During the weekend, diocese officials released a statement saying that
pornography was filmed at McCusker's popular Club Montage, which caters
to a straight crowd on Fridays and a gay clientele on Saturdays. Diocese
officials also said that gay porn stars made appearances at a North Park
bar called ReBar, which was also owned by McCusker.
Club Montage is closed five days of the week and the space is usually
rented out to private groups, McCusker's former business partner,
Michael Mack, told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
"As far as what was filmed there, we had nothing to do with the filming
or production," Mack told the newspaper.
A notice on the Club Montage Web site announced that "sadly and
regretfully Club Montage is closed indefinitely."
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."
Catholic Funeral Services
Denied To Gay Business Man
San Diego, Imperial Catholic Churches Barred From
Holding Services
POSTED: 7:06 am PST March 18, 2005
10News.com
UPDATED: 2:41 pm PST March 18, 2005
SAN DIEGO -- Funeral services
for a man whose nightclubs cater to the gay community were held at an
Episcopal church Friday after San Diego Bishop Robert Brom reportedly
ruled out Catholic services for the man.
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," according to
The San
Diego Union-Tribune.
McCusker, 31, died Sunday of congestive heart failure while
vacationing in Mammoth, his family told the newspaper.
Brom made the decision three days later after learning that
McCusker's family planned a funeral at the Immaculata Catholic Church
on the campus of the University of San Diego, where McCusker attended
school, the Union-Tribune reported.
Mike Portantino, a friend of McCusker's and publisher of the San
Diego-based
Gay & Lesbian Times, said McCusker's family members
are devout Catholics and his mother taught catechism, the newspaper
reported.
McCusker's funeral was held at St. Paul's Cathedral near Balboa
Park, at 11 a.m. Friday, the Union-Tribune reported. It was
followed by burial 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
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.
Diocese officials told the
Union-Tribune that the bishops'
order has nothing to do with the fact McCusker was gay, but rather his
"public activity" as a businessman.
A notice on the Club Montage Web site announced that "sadly and
regretfully Club Montage is closed indefinitely."
The family asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in
McCusker's name to the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation.
