Catholics have always believed that those who commit suicide are automatically doomed to the eternal flames of Hell. The reason, they say, is that after they’ve committed the act, they no longer have the chance to repent and do penance to work off their sins and regain favor with God.
Of course, as Protestants, we completely reject the entire system of works righteousness that has evolved over centuries of doctrinal shifting in the Roman Catholic Church. However, I have argued that those who commit suicide, instead, have shown themselves in the vast majority of cases — barring some serious and rare mental illness — to be reprobate. In fact, I’ve argued that suicide is an act of apostasy.
But, I digress.
Photo: Archdiocese of Detroit
A Roman Catholic family is now up-in-arms that after their son recently committed suicide, that the priest, Don LaCuesta — who obviously holds to and believes the Church’s teachings on suicide — would dare say that their son committed an act of sin.
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“No parent, no sibling, no family member should ever, ever have to sit through what we sat through,” the mom said in a statement released by their law firm, “and it’s happened before. When you’re already beyond devastation, why would you make it even worse? No words can describe that [be]cause you don’t think you could feel any worse.”
Like, what exactly did they expect? He’s a Catholic priest. He preaches Catholic doctrine. They believe people who commit suicide go to Hell. It’s really simple. If you don’t believe Catholic doctrine, why are you in a Catholic Church? Go to a United Methodist Church.
Now, the family is suing the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit for the “emotional distress” they say the priest inflicted on the family during his sermon — and the archdiocese has disallowed the priest from preaching any more funeral services for the foreseeable future.
I guess if you can sue a religious organization for “emotional distress” for preaching what they believe to be true, why stop there? That opens the door for a lot of lawsuits if allowed by the courts.
