News Alert

(AP)7/19/03, New Mexico: The family of a former Chama councilman is suing a Catholic priest and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe over the priest’s sermon at the man’s funeral. The lawsuit accuses the Rev. Scott Mansfield of using “graphic terms” to tell the congregation the deceased was going to hell because he wasn’t totally devoted to the church.

The family of Ben Martinez filed the lawsuit in June accusing Mansfield of saying during Martinez’ funeral “clearly, loudly and without hesitation that the Lord vomited people like Ben out of his mouth to hell.”

The archdiocese and Mansfield “deny the allegations and are vigorously defending themselves in court,” archdiocese spokeswoman Celine Radigan said.

Their answer to the lawsuit says Mansfield “recited scriptural  passages from the gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ and scriptural passages from the Book of Revelation at the funeral.”

There is a passage in the Book of Revelation similar to what Mansfield is accused of saying. In Revelation:3:15-16 [15] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. [16] So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
See All..., the Lord says, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.”

The dispute also cost Andy Rivas of Chama, who had trained to be a deacon for more than two years, his chance at ordination as a deacon this month, the lawsuit states…because he backed the family’s account of Mansfield’s sermon.

“I felt so bad for the family,” Rivas said.“…To go to church and have somebody condemn your loved one to hell. In the middle of the service, they were thinking about taking him (Martinez’s body) out. That’s how bad it was.”

Martinez, 80, died June 17, 2002.

Ruth Pregenzer, attorney for Mansfield and the archdiocese, has filed notice to move the case to federal court, arguing that free speech rights are at stake.

Nine relatives of Martinez, including his widow, Joann Martinez, allege in the lawsuit that because of Mansfield’s sermon, they’ve become depressed, had nightmares, undergone psychological treatment or counseling and suffered in other ways.

Pauline Hamm, a daughter, “thinks people in Chama are staring at her, thinking her father is in hell,” the lawsuit says.

[TBC: The Roman Catholic Church fails to teach the biblical (and only) way a person qualifies for heaven, yet condemns a man to hell for not being “totally devoted to the Church”? Relatives turn to psychologists to alleviate the fear of hell? The courts will rule on an interpretation and application of Scripture? More evidence that these are the Last Days!]