Man Who Held Suicide Party Heralded by Associated Press

Saint Therese Catholic Church in Seattle. (Facebook)

On August 26th, the Associated Press published a story detailing the story of a man named Robert Fuller and the events that led to his assisted suicide. In the month leading up to his death, Fuller made several references to his planned suicide and encouraged friends to attend events such as his final mass, an end of life celebration, and his funeral all with pre-planned dates. He married his male partner during this end of life celebration as another event to cross off his "bucket list."

Recent coverage, including the AP story, claimed that members and priests knew Fuller's plans and that a priest gave Fuller his blessing to continue with them in his final days. The Archdiocese of Seattle denies these claims:

“That morning, the priest in the photograph was told Mr. Fuller was dying and wanted the blessing of the faith community. It wasn’t until later that parish leaders learned of his plans. When these plans were made known, the pastor met with Mr. Fuller to discuss the sacred gift of human life and how we are called to respect and revere that gift as disciples of Jesus.”

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