Bishop Apologizes For Refusing Gay Man's Funeral

[davidinalameda]

http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/03/032205sanDiego.htm

After a week of vilifying a gay businessman the bishop of San Diego now has apologized to his family for refusing to allow a Catholic funeral.

John McCusker, 31, died suddenly March 13 of an apparent heart attack at the Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort where he was on vacation.

McCusker's family sought to have his funeral at his alma mater, the University of San Diego, which is associated with the diocese. Initially, the university agreed to hold the funeral and then suddenly declined.

[BeeBee]

1. A little too little too late. n/t

[Zenlitened]

2. I wonder what changed his mind?

:shrug:

Is it too much to hope that he listened to the views of people around him, and updated his thinking as a result?

[Dookus]

3. You defended him a few days ago...

so was he right then, or is he right now?

[dsc]

4. I believe he defended the Church's right to do it

not the act itself. Cleary one has the right in the US to join the NAZI Party, and any good civil libertarian should defend that right, but that doesn't mean one defends being a NAZI.

[Dookus]

5. I didn't read it that way:

dwickham (1000+ posts) Fri Mar-18-05 09:23 AM
Response to Original message

2. if he was gay, I have no problem with them denying him the use of the university

if he wasn't, then I do

[ianrs]

6. i took this to be a defence of the church as well

I'm not at all sure that even on the Church's own terms (canon law etc.) it has the right to deny someone a catholic funeral for being gay, or for being the proprietor of an allegedly immoral business.

And even if it was ok (in the Church's terms), you can't just pretend the Church is unimportant/irrelevant and should be allowed to get away with this sort of hate 'just because'. This decision was bigoted shit whichever way you look at it. And the pisshop's apology just proves it. :mad:





...xxx

[GodlessBiker]

7. Perhaps he had a change of heart...

when it was pointed our to him that one of the priests who molested children was given an official Catholic funeral.