A People Adrift in San Diego: Damage Control Seen, as Overshadowing Gospel in Funeral Controversy

Johnston, Rosemary, National Catholic Reporter

Editor's note: Rosemary Johnston, an occasional contributor to NCR, lives in the San Diego diocese. NCR asked if she would provide an account of her impressions of life in the diocese during the past few weeks.

As San Diego Catholics absorb the fallout from a recent decision by Bishop Robert Brom to deny a Catholic funeral for the owner of a gay night-club and the bishop's subsequent apology, it is clear that the polarization of red and blue states that characterized the 2004 presidential election also holds true for the local church.

The 31-year-old nightclub owner, John McCusker, had died unexpectedly March 13 while vacationing in Mammoth, Calif. His parents had arranged for a funeral at the Immaculata, a Spanish Renaissance-style church, the largest in the diocese, located on the campus of the University of San Diego. However, when "concerned Catholics" learned of impending funeral services from a death notice printed in the March 16 San Diego …

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Publication information: Article title: A People Adrift in San Diego: Damage Control Seen, as Overshadowing Gospel in Funeral Controversy. Contributors: Johnston, Rosemary - Author. Magazine title: National Catholic Reporter. Volume: 41. Issue: 23 Publication date: April 8, 2005. Page number: 9. © 2009 National Catholic Reporter. COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group.

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