Under the heading of, "I can't f-ing believe it". In the local news they had a recent story where a young high school athlete committed suicide. His parents who were practicing catholics met with the priest and requested a service that was a "celebration" of his life. Instead the priest during the service focused on the suicide and that the young man was a sinner and he could not promise he would go to heaven. One of the parents actually stood up during the service and asked him to stop. The priest would not stop and the family ended up refusing to have the priest accompany them to the cemetery. The family complained and requested the priest be removed from the church. They refused but did state he would be assigned a mentor to help him improve. I'm was incensed when I read they story. Suicide of a child is one of the most traumatic things a family can face, To add to the pain is beyond belief.
That's religion for you. Hitting people when they are down is their specialty.
Weddings and funerals are the main reasons I went to seminary and was ordained as “non-denominational” in 1993 (before internet ordinations became a thing).
I’ve done 3000+ weddings and 200+ funerals.
Not once have I ever mentioned punishment or hell.
I might need to start advertising more to Catholics
I am sad to say I don't find it surprising. At my grandmothers funeral, the priest kept getting her name wrong, and basically mocked her during the whole thing.
That priest was cruel to the parents whose son committed suicide. Shame on him!
Bravo to the parents for telling the priest to stop, and refusing to let him join them at the cemetery. They set a clear, appropriate boundary while reeling from deep grief.