XPost: mi.misc, sac.politics, alt.politics.obama   
   XPost: alt.politics.liberalism   
   From: pay-to-play@barackobama.com   
      
   They lost a teenage son to suicide, then sought compassion from   
   their priest.   
      
   Yet, at the packed funeral on Dec. 8, the Rev. Don LaCuesta   
   delivered words so hurtful that Catholic officials apologized in   
   a statement emailed to the Free Press.   
      
   The youth’s parents want their parish priest removed from his   
   post in Monroe County, south of Detroit.   
      
   “Everybody seems to understand but the Catholic church,” said   
   Jeff Hullibarger, father of 18-year-old Maison, a straight-A   
   student and athlete who ended his own life on Dec. 4. The priest   
   told mourners the youth might be blocked from heaven, the couple   
   said.   
      
   Adding to the family’s hurt was the appearance of their late   
   son’s high school football coach, who’d bullied him and their   
   other sons, they said. Although Maison’s mother, Linda   
   Hullibarger, said she requested through a friend that coach   
   Jeffrey Wood not attend the funeral, Wood showed up anyway, then   
   was asked to leave.   
      
   He did so, only to post on social media a sneer at the family’s   
   tragedy. That act got the award-winning coach, with a record of   
   77-38, relieved of his duties, according to a statement posted   
   on the website of Bedford Community Schools.   
      
   Still, the Hullibargers said the rude incident with the coach   
   pales beside the spate of jarring words they heard from their   
   parish priest.   
      
   The priest   
   Jeff Hullibarger and his wife Linda Hullibarger, who live in   
   Temperance, Mich., said they’d met with “Father LaCuesta” well   
   before the funeral, going over in detail what they expected in   
   the homily to be delivered by their pastor at Our Lady of Mt.   
   Carmel Catholic Church in Temperance, even watching the priest   
   take notes in their meeting.   
      
   “We wanted him to celebrate how Maison lived, not how he died,”   
   Maison’s mother said. Instead, when LaCuesta gave his homily to   
   hundreds of mourners and family members, “It was his time to   
   tell everybody what he thought of suicide, (and) we couldn’t   
   believe what he was saying,” Maison’s father said.   
      
   “He was up there condemning our son, pretty much calling him a   
   sinner. He wondered if he had repented enough to make it to   
   heaven. He said ‘suicide’ upwards of six times.   
      
   “There were actually a couple of younger boys who were Maison’s   
   age who left the church sobbing,” Jeff Hullibarger said. The   
   bereaved father at one point walked to the pulpit and whispered   
   to the priest, “Father, please stop,” but their pastor continued   
   with statements denouncing the way their son’s life ended, the   
   couple said.   
      
   “People told me there was almost a smirk on his face,” Jeff   
   Hullibarger said. In response to a Free Press inquiry, the   
   Archdiocese of Detroit released a statement:   
      
   “We share the family’s grief at such a profound loss. Our hope   
   is always to bring comfort into situations of great pain,   
   through funeral services centered on the love and healing power   
   of Christ.   
      
   “Unfortunately, that did not happen in this case. We understand   
   that an unbearable situation was made even more difficult, and   
   we are sorry.   
      
   “After some reflection, the presider agrees that the family was   
   not served as they should have been served. For the foreseeable   
   future, he will not be preaching at funerals and he will have   
   his other homilies reviewed by a priest mentor. In addition, he   
   has agreed to pursue the assistance he needs in order to become   
   a more effective minister in these difficult situations.   
      
   “We have been in contact with the family since learning of this   
   situation, and we will continue to offer our support going   
   forward.”   
      
   The Hullibargers said they’re speaking out because they don’t   
   want their priest’s behavior to hurt others.   
      
   “Really, the only way for that to happen is for this priest to   
   be removed. We’re afraid that, like the Catholic church does,   
   they’ll send him off and he’ll do it to somebody else,” Jeff   
   Hullibarger said.   
      
   At the funeral, after he’d lectured mourners about suicide,   
   LaCuesta tried to keep Maison’s parents from eulogizing their   
   son, even though that had been agreed on well in advance, they   
   said.   
      
   “I said, unlike what was said previously, we would like to   
   celebrate the life of Maison. I told them that Maison had a   
   great effect on many people. He was passionate and opinionated.   
      
   “And we said we had a message for everyone — to be kind to each   
   other, to reach out to those you care about, and to be sincere   
   in your actions and to show love unconditionally.”   
      
   As the casket was wheeled out, the couple told the priest he was   
   not welcome at their son’s burial.   
      
   Instead, at the gravesite “we gave our own blessing of Maison,   
   with everybody who loved him,” Jeff Hullibarger said.   
      
   The Archdiocese did not make LaCuesta available for comment. On   
   the church’s website, a page devoted to “Father Don LaCuesta”   
   says his goal is “to be part of the revival of Catholic culture.”   
      
   The coach   
   Adding to the family’s stress was the appearance at their son’s   
   funeral of the man who’d coached Maison when the youth was a   
   star linebacker at Bedford High School in Temperance, Jeff   
   Hullibarger said.   
      
   “We’ve had four boys who played for him. He’s been bullying kids   
   for many years,” Jeff Hullibarger said. His wife said she   
   messaged through an intermediary that Wood was not welcome at   
   the service.   
      
   “We knew Maison would not want him at his funeral. He did not   
   treat Maison kindly,” she said.   
      
   The coach strode in anyway, prompting one of the couple’s sons   
   to demand he leave, they said. Wood left but soon posted on   
   social media that he was a fall guy, and people need to look in   
   the mirror at their own shortcomings instead of blaming others.   
      
   After word about Wood’s post reached school officials, his   
   coaching duties were terminated. Wood also had been teaching   
   history in the district, and it was unclear whether he would   
   continue.   
      
   The Hullibargers said they appreciate the sympathy they’ve had   
   from numerous people in Monroe County after losing their son,   
   who was a freshman at the University of Toledo and studying   
   criminal justice.   
      
   The couple said they’ve been always been steadfast Roman   
   Catholics — Maison’s middle name Donnelly was the last name of a   
   kindly priest who married them — but they’ve vowed not to return   
   to the church where their son’s funeral took place.   
      
   https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/michigan-couple-   
   priest-bully-coach-ruined-our-son-s-funeral/article_96afa7be-   
   231f-511c-b279-9226e8f1daf9.html   
         
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)