The Rev. Don LaCuesta (R), a priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Temperance, Michigan, and Maison Hullibarger (L) an 18-year-old college student who took his life on Dec. 4, 2018.
Posted on 11/16/2019 1:30:02 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The mother of an 18-year-old college student who died by suicide last December, has filed a lawsuit against the Rev. Don LaCuesta, a priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Temperance, Michigan, for suggesting at her son’s funeral that he might not go to Heaven.
Linda Hullibarger and her husband, Jeff, whose son, Maison Hullibarger, died by suicide on Dec. 4, 2018, had previously called for LaCuesta to be fired for traumatizing grieving friends and family at his funeral on Dec. 8, 2018.
In a statement shortly after the backlash over LaCuesta’s comments, the Archdiocese of Detroit apologized and admitted that LaCuesta failed to bring comfort to the family. It was also noted that the priest would be suspended from funeral duties and undergo additional training and review.
On Thursday, The law firm of Charles E. Boyk said the family was taking things further and had filed in a lawsuit against The Archdiocese of Detroit, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, and Father LaCuesta for injuries the Hullibargers allege were caused by the pastor’s conduct during Maison’s funeral, The Monroe News reported.
The mother of six, who is seeking restitution in excess of $25,000, alleges that LaCuesta deliberately ignored the wishes of her and her husband regarding their son’s funeral. She said that her family had not shared the cause of her son’s death with the pastor or the wider community which made the pastor’s comments all the more shocking.
″[A]t our own child’s funeral, we were taken down yet again when it was a place that we were supposed to be lifted up,” Linda Hullibarger said. “And we had no idea, no indication that was going to happen. ... No parent, no sibling, no family member should ever, ever have to sit through what we sat through.”
Andrea Young, an attorney at Charles Boyk Law, further noted that they believe the pastor planned to condemn suicide at the funeral.
“It was apparent to those in attendance that Father LaCuesta had a message he wanted to relay,” Young said. “That message was not previously disclosed to the Hullibarger family and it did not conform to homily that Father LaCuesta previously agreed to deliver. At a time of tragedy, the Hullibarger family turned to their church for peace and comfort but instead Father LaCuesta’s actions caused them irreparable harm and pain.”
A copy of LaCuesta’s sermon the archdiocese posted on its website shows the pastor warning Christians against taking their own lives.
“If we Christians are right in believing that salvation belongs to Jesus Christ, that it does not come from us — and that our hand cannot stop what God allows for us, then yes, there is hope in eternity even for those who take their own lives,” he said.
“Having said that, I think that we must not call what is bad good, what is wrong right. Because we are Christians, we must say what we know is the truth — that taking your own life is against God who made us and against everyone who loves us. Our lives are not our own. They are not ours to do with as we please. God gave us life, and we are to be good stewards of that gift for as long as God permits,” he continued.
“The finality of suicide makes this all the worse. You cannot make things right again. Neither can [REDACTED]. And this is much of the pain of it all. Things are left unresolved, even if it felt to [REDACTED] like this was the only way to resolve things. You want to turn the clock back and say, ‘Please don't give up. We can work through this pain together.’ But now you will have to work through this pain by yourselves, or with those close to you now who will need to lean on you even as you lean on them,” he added.
Suicide is murder.
They invited him to talk.
The mom is suing due to a “suggestion”? It’s common belief that suicide is a ticket to purgatory or hell. The Lord hates cowards.
Instead of filing a lawsuit to feel better, she needs to consult an Imam, so she can be reassured that her son will get his 72 Virgins when he gets to Allah Land.
She shouldn’t have filed a lawsuit but the priest shouldn’t have said that either. I had a friend whose husband committed suicide (because he was mentally unbalanced and under the influence of drugs at the time) and the priest did the same thing. So of course everybody in the church is staring at her and wondering what she did wrong, although he had threatened to kill himself on their very first day of marriage and she had kept him alive through many such episodes for years. He wouldn’t get treatment.
If this priest didn’t feel he should bury this man, he simply should have refused it and given it to another priest or another church. The deceased can’t change what he’s done, he’s suffering whatever he has to suffer, and the only thing a homily like this damages is the surviving family.
And where was the Church when this guy was having problems? My friend’s husband was actually told by a VII priest not to go to confession so often (he went once a week or once a month, like most good Catholics) and just go once a year. So they had no contact with him, but I’m sure one of the things he had confessed was suicidal thoughts and he got help for it. So clergy, no matter how orthodox, don’t punish the survivors for your own failure.
Our son died alone after a long illness and struggles with addiction. Although Father Ike didn’t directly ask, he did want to know cause of death. My son and I both gave him clear indication that this was not suicide. Father Mike only wanted to talk alone to the Catholics in the family which included me, my son’s widow and my other son.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that that entire family may not be going to Heaven.
I wasn’t expecting something that mild. Sounds more Protestant than traditional Romanish.
All the more reasons Catholic Chirch has no clue about Christ. Suicide is a sin, Christ died for our sins. If the kid believed in Christ, he’s in heaven. End of story. This priest is an idiot
Suicide = not going to heaven is Catholic Doctrine.
She’s suing him for having an opinion? Whatever.
Current Official Roman position:
Suicide
2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him.
It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life.
We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls.
We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us.
It is not ours to dispose of.
2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life.
It is gravely contrary to the just love of self.
It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations.
Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.
2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal.
Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.
Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.
2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. the Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.
IIRC, isn’t suicide one of the Mortal Sins?
I seem to recall that even in MY lifetime, suicide sort of precluded a Funeral Mass.
It is time the Catholic church was taken to court on this argument. By that argument, “Is that something that can be laid out in plain language from the Bible, or is that something written in a supplementary text, separate from the Bible?”
Suicide may be the result of mental illness.
I’ve known far too many people over the years who drank and smoked themselves to death far earlier than they should have. They were slow suicides and they knew it. They knew they were speeding up the inevitable and that’s what they wanted. It’s been known tobacco, especially cigarettes, causes cancer/death going back to the 1920’s; maybe earlier.
Did they go to hell because of their addictions and inability or lack of desire to quit them? As a lapsed Catholic I’m curious what the church would say.
What about drug overdoses? Is that considered suicide since they knew it could happen when using street drugs. I’m not talking about someone who intentionally takes drugs to die.
Now, can I sue the media and Congress for making stupid/insensitive comments? (snark)
Just because it’s a “common” belief doesn’t make it factual. God knows what’s in your heart, nobody else does.
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