The Catholic Church is Wrong on This Issue

The Catholic Church is denying funeral rites for a man who owned "Gay" Clubs.

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."

"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."

"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."

The hypocrisy of this decision is too much for me to remain silent on the issue. When the Catholic priesthood is riddled with homosexuals, this Bishop is going to deny funeral rites for a man who owned Gay bars. This is wrong, I don't advocate homosexuality, I don't advocate owning Gay Bars, but I sure wouldn't deny someone funeral rites because of it. Homosexuality is a sin, but so is extra-marital sex, lying, stealing and other things, so why pick on this man? I think the Bishop made the wrong decision, and that he needs to resend it, unless he also is going to deny funeral rites for the priests in his Diocese that he knows are homosexuals also.


Mr Minority