NM Family suing over funeral HELL prediction 'The Lord vomited...

[underpants]

people like Ben out of his mouth to HELL' (emphasis added)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=857&ncid=757&e=10&u=/nm/20030717/od_uk_nm/oukoe_odd_funeral

SANTA FE, N.M (Reuters) - A New Mexico family is suing their local Catholic church over a funeral Mass in which the priest allegedly said their relative was only a middling Catholic and going straight to hell.

Court papers filed last month say that Reverend Scott Mansfield said at Martinez's funeral last year that the deceased was "living in sin", "lukewarm in his faith" and that "the Lord vomited people like Ben out of his mouth to hell".

Martinez, 80, died June 17, 2002. Roughly 200 people attended the funeral at St. Patrick's Parish in Chama, New Mexico, a small town north of Santa Fe.

The complaint also said that as Mansfield walked to the grave, he laced his comments about Martinez -- a former town councilman -- with profanities.

[Skittles]

1. I'm guessing

this priest is suffering from some sort of mental problem.

[nuxvomica]

4. I agree. And the suit should be thrown out.

I can't imagine such statements during a religious ritual would be actionable.

[greyl]

5. It's a business relationship.

Why wouldn't it be actionable? Is any offense that occurs during a religious ritual exempt?

[nuxvomica]

19. I think you takes your chances with the clergy

They are supposed to be professionals rendering their best opinion. I think religious speech should be exempt from litigation. Sometimes we have to deal with offensiveness without going to court, even if money has traded hands.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

2. lovely

Makes me want to run back into the Church's loving arms

[greyl]

3. Holy Shit ! nt

[underpants]

7. I can only imagine the faces on the 200 attendees

:wow:

[ZenLefty]

6. Wow.

So, people go to a church seeking spiritual guidance and such. And when they get answers they don't want to hear, they can sue. Not that the priest should be saying crap like that at a man's funeral, but I feel funny trying to tell a catholic priest how to do his job. :shrug:

That's it. If ever a Buddhist monk says I'm never going to reach enlightenment on the path I walk, I'm suing the bastard!

[indie]

8. Usually payment is made

to the pastor, reverend, priest or congregation as a unit for a funeral service. If these people paid this man to perform a funeral mass and provide comfort to the bereaved, the grounds for a suit have been met. If the parish doesn't immediately remove this man, I hope the family wins big.

[Phoenixtongueof fire]

10. I agree with you........

I don't think the church hierarchy should be exempt from anything.
It the priest was mentally unstable, surely the bishop would be aware of it and remove the man, if not then the church should be sued. Maybe if enough people sued the church, the hierarchy would get the message that they are not above the law and that they need to come down off of their high horses and clean up their act.

[northzax]

13. exactly right

if the Church didn't think this man was acceptable, they should have (and could have) refused him burial in their churchyard. I just went to my girlfriend's local parish church in WI and saw the graves of the unbaptised just outside the graveyard. They weren't allowed to be buried on holy ground.

So if this man wasn't good enough for the Church, they should not have taken his money to bury him. simple.

[number9]

17. My thoughts exactly

To denigrate the memory of someone dead in the presence of his family members may be okay for one of the other relatives or acquaintances, but for a paid individual to do so breaks the unspoken contract. I would guess that's the basis of the lawsuit. Not just slander, but breaking a contract.

[Braden]

9. did he have a girlfriend?

the dude was 80, what exactly constitutes living in sin for an octagenarian?

profanities at a funeral? He must have been plastered.

[Az]

11. I am guessing

The preist was elderly. It is not uncommon for an aging brain to lose the ability to censor itself. As we age we become less able to monitor ourselves and tend to be more explicit. Sometimes it is more extreme. Sounds like the preist's main govenor has gone off.

[AntiCoup2K4]

12. Where did this alleged "priest" get his religious training??

Sounds like he learned from the Westboro Baptist Church :eyes:

[Archae]

14. I noticed this in the article as well.

But church officials deny the family's claims.

"We deny the allegations and Father Mansfield denies the plaintiff's allegations," said Celine Baca Radigan, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

Radigan said that Mansfield has been moved to a parish outside of Albuquerque on a routine transfer.


Isn't this the same state that has that MF'er Bishop or Cardinal who kept transferring the Chester the Molestors, and now is up to his own ass in trouble for killing a man with his car, running away from the accident and trying to cover it up?

[underpants]

15. Well there were 200 people there

So determining if he said this shouldn't be too hard.

[blondeatlast]

16. You're thinking of AZ.

Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, who has since resigned.

[Phoenixtongueof fire]

18. Uh, no............

You are thinking of Bishop O'Brien here in Phoenix, AZ. another state altogether, but is seems the Catholic Church as been guilty of cover up everywhere. I'm not entirely sure if I'm correct, but I think the bishop's replacement was from Albuquerque,NM. DUer from NMex. could probably tell you better than I.