SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico family has sued a priest and archdiocese over a funeral Mass in which a priest allegedly said their relative was a “lukewarm” Catholic who was headed to hell.
Attorneys for the family of Ben Martinez said July 15 they filed a lawsuit in June against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe and Scott Mansfield, one of its priests, the Reuters news agency reported. According to court documents, Mansfield said at Martinez’s funeral a year ago that the former town councilman was “lukewarm in his faith,” “living in sin,” and that “the Lord vomited people like Ben out of his mouth to hell.”
About 200 people attended the funeral at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Chama after he died at the age of 80 on June 17, 2002.
Family members said he was a practicing Catholic throughout his life but was too ill to attend church during the year before he died. Nine members of Martinez’s family seek damages for severe emotional and physical suffering. A church official said Mansfield has moved to another parish, outside Albuquerque, on a routine transfer. “We deny the allegations and Father Mansfield denies the plaintiff’s allegations,” said Celine Baca Radigan, communications director for the archdiocese.
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