By: Thomas J. Paprocki
In an article entitled “Gotti, Mob Funerals, and the Catholic
Church,” previously published in the Journal of Catholic Legal
Studies, Patrick J. Gordon asserted that Bishop Thomas Daily
of Brooklyn “abused his discretion” in denying John Gotti an
ecclesiastical funeral Mass in accord with Canon 1184 of the
Code of Canon Law, which requires “some signs of
repentance before death” for “manifest sinners who cannot be
granted ecclesiastical funerals without public scandal of the
faithful.” The author based his conclusion on “a presumption
that Gotti did repent, thus rendering Canon 1184
inapplicable.” Again, in Section II of his article, entitled,
“The Law,” the author states his “presumption that John Gotti did,
in fact, repent and thus was entitled to a funeral Mass.” On what
basis does one presume repentance on the part of a convicted felon
“serving a life sentence without parole on numerous charges,
including racketeering, conspiracy to racketeer, murder in the aid
of racketeering, operating an illegal gambling business, and
witness tampering?”
Tracing canon law and Catholic theology, this article argues
that such a presumption is not supported in canon law. Thus,
Bishop Thomas Daily of Brooklyn did not abuse his discretion in
denying John Gotti an ecclesiastical funeral Mass, since he was
acting in accord with the rule of law, specifically, Canon 1184,
which requires “some signs of repentance before death” for
“manifest sinners who cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals
without public scandal of the faithful.” Given the notoriety
of John Gotti’s crimes, and in the absence of any signs of
repentance, Paprocki argues that Bishop Daily made the right
decision.