Bishop Brom Apologizes

In a written statement read by the mother of the local bar owner whose funeral was refused by the Diocese of San Diego, Bishop Robert Brom issued an apology and said he would preside at a Mass in memory of John McCusker at the Immaculata Catholic Church, where he was denied funeral rites last week.

“I deeply regret that denying a Catholic funeral for John McCusker at the Immaculata has resulted in his unjust condemnation and I apologize to the family for the anguish this has caused them,” read Brom’s statement, as hundreds listened at The Center Monday night. “To help rectify this situation, insofar as it can be, I will preside at a Mass for the family, in memory of John, at the Immaculata. In consideration for the family, I will not be available for any further public statements on this matter.”

Brom’s decision to forbid any of the 98 churches and chapels in the Diocese of San Diego from holding McCusker’s funeral “to avoid public scandal” had caused a scandal of its own that attracted citywide and national attention.

McCusker, the openly gay owner of Club Montage and ReBar, died of heart failure Sunday, March 13, while vacationing in Mammoth for gay ski week. His family had arranged his funeral to take place the following Friday at the Immaculata Catholic Church on the campus grounds of the University of San Diego, where McCusker had received his degree.

That Wednesday evening, Bishop Brom told McCusker’s family that because of McCusker’s business activities, he would not be granted funerary rites in any Catholic church or chapel in the diocese. Later that night, Councilmember Toni Atkins put St. Paul’s Cathedral, an Episcopalian church, in touch with McCusker’s family, who arranged for his funeral to be held there instead. More than 500 people attended the funeral.

In justifying his refusal to allow McCusker a funeral in the Catholic diocese, Brom invoked Canon Law 1184, specifically that, “Unless they give some signs of repentance before death… manifest sinners… cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals without public scandal of the faithful….”

Rodrigo Valdivia, chancellor of the Diocese of San Diego and Brom’s spokesperson, would not comment directly to the Gay & Lesbian Times last week, but emailed a word document containing the information the bishop based his decision on.

The contents of the document in its entirety read:

“Information Regarding REBAR:

Advertising slogans include:

Tired of Playing with Boys, Come Play with Men!

Gay porn stars from XXX videos are scheduled to appear at REBAR on March 30th.

Information Regarding CLUB MONTAGE:

A porn video entitled, The Seekers, notes that it was filmed at Club Montage.”

Valdivia told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the information was given to the diocese from “concerned Catholics” after they heard that McCusker’s funeral was to take place at Immaculata.

Numerous organizations called for Brom’s apology, and Monday’s town hall meeting at The Center was arranged to discuss how the community should respond to the Bishop’s decision. Dignity USA, a national organization for GLBT Catholics, said Brom’s decision was “a chance to twist church law.”

In an amended statement sent to the Gay & Lesbian Times Friday, Valdivia said the diocese was aware that “an organized campaign is distorting the action of Bishop Brom in order to advance its agenda and to silence those whose moral convictions are at variance with its own. … The Bishop acted as he did so that the faithful would not be misled and erroneously conclude that the Church condones activities such as those included in the businesses of Mr. McCusker. It is a mistake to interpret this pastoral action as a condemnation of Mr. McCusker. He should be in our prayers for the blessing of eternal life.”

San Diego Dignity member Pat McArron, a former Dignity USA president, said the canon law is “ambiguous at best.”

“Unless Bishop Brom himself had personal knowledge that Mr. McCusker was a ‘manifest sinner’… owning a legal establishment, which is in compliance with state, county and municipal law is not a sin, regardless of who patronizes the establishment,” McArron said in Dignity USA’s statement.

The church uses the term “manifest sinners” to describe those whom it considers obstinate and persistent sinners, Dignity USA said.

Valdivia told the Union-Tribune that he could not recall any examples of the use of Canon 1184.

Mobster John Gotti was denied a Catholic funeral by the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2002, but Boston Archdiocese former priest John Geoghan, who was convicted the same year for child molestation, was granted Catholic funeral services after he was murdered in prison in 2003. The Rev. Christopher Coyne, a Boston Archdiocese spokesperson, said at the time Geoghan would be buried “in a Catholic funeral just as any other baptized Catholic would be.”

Among the slew of sex-abuse allegations that have cropped up around the nation is one involving Brom, which was settled out of court in 1993.

The Boston Globe reported that the Minnesota dioceses of Duluth and Winona paid a legal settlement to a former seminarian who accused Brom of coercing him into having sex when Brom was bishop of Duluth. The man retracted the claim after reaching the settlement, said to be $85,000. Brom issued a statement to priests and parishioners at the time denying any wrongdoing.

McCusker’s family declined to talk to the media after reading Brom’s apology Monday night.

“It is our family’s wishes and deepest desire that you accept this as an offering of peace and an opportunity to do what John would have done, as he was a great advocate of forgiveness and reconciliation,” said McCusker’s mother, Christine McCusker. “Now we can continue to mourn the loss of John in peace and with dignity.”

“We are very pleased with the outcome for the McCusker family,” said Center Board Chair Richard Valdez. “We will respect their wishes and we will go forward in a positive way to celebrate John.”

A candlelight vigil honoring John McCusker will be held Friday, March 25, at 6:00 p.m. at Trolley Barn Park. A march to The Center will follow the vigil.