Parishioner Sues Priest Over Disparaging Homily Remarks

In McHenry County, Illinois, a Roman Catholic parishioner has filed a "false light" invasion of privacy lawsuit against Rev. Luis Alfredo Rios and Monsignor Daniel Hermes, both of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, and against the Diocese of Rockford. Angel R. Llavona is asking for $50,000 in damages because of a sermon given by Fr. Rios. The incident began with Llavona left a message on Rios' answering machine telling him that "I have seen poor homilies, but yesterday broke all records." After their attempts to meet did not go well, Rios used the next Sunday's masses to play the answering machine message to the entire congregation. Then Rios commented to the congregation: "This is the person in charge of religious education here last year. That’s why it is no surprise to me we had the kind of religious education we had. That’s why we didn’t get altar boys. What should we do, should we send him to Hell or to another parish?" The Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) and the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) both report on the case.