The homily at Maison Hullibarger’s funeral began typically enough the priest acknowledged the anguish of the 18-year-old’s parents and asked God to use his words to bring the light. Then the Rev. Fr. Don LaCuesta’s message took a sharp turn.
“I think that we must not call what is bad good, what is wrong right,” Rev. Fr. LaCuesta told mourners at his parish in Temperance, Michigan. “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.”
Jeffrey and Linda Hullibarger were stunned. They had not revealed how their son had died outside of a close circle of friends and relatives, but Rev. Fr. LaCuesta went on to say the word “suicide” six times and suggest that people ending their own lives was an affront to God. Nearly a year after Rev. Fr. LaCuesta presided over the funeral on 8 December 2018, Linda Hullibarger has filed a lawsuit against him, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church and the Archdiocese of Detroit, alleging that the homily irreparably harmed her already devastated family.
The action filed last Wednesday elevates to the legal realm the Hullibargers’ ongoing effort to seek greater accountability from the archdiocese. “That funeral was not for our son, not for our other kids, not for my family,” Linda Hullibarger told The Washington Post. “In my opinion, he made our son’s funeral about his own agenda.” Melinda Moore, a co-lead of the faith communities task force at the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, said faith leaders are important partners in preventing suicide and responding when it happens.
She said homilies like Rev. Fr. LaCuesta reflect the stigma that suicide still carries in faith communities and often reinforces loved ones’ feelings of responsibility, shame, and anguish. Ms Hullibarger alleges in her lawsuit, filed in Michigan state court, that Rev. Fr. LaCuesta’s homily caused that type of heartbreak after she and her husband turned to their long-time parish for comfort.
Courtesy: Independent.co.uk
