Nate Phelps, the son of Fred Waldron
Phelps Sr., who founded the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church in the
1950s, claims his father is “on the edge of death” and living in
a hospice home.
In a Facebook post, Nate, who broke
away from the church 37 years ago at the age of 18 and now lives in
Canada, claims his controversial father was excommunicated from the
church last August and is living at hospice house in Topeka, The
Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
Many of Nate's 12 siblings remain in
the Topeka, Kansas-based church known for coining the phrase “God
hates fags” and picketing
at the funerals of fallen soldiers, because their deaths are the
price America pays for its acceptance of “the sin of
homosexuality.”
Church spokesman Steve Drain declined
to say whether the church had excommunicated its founder.
“We don't owe any talk to you about
that,” Drain said on Sunday. “We don't discuss our internal
church dealings with anybody. It's only because of his notoriety
that you are asking.”
Drain, who decided to join the church
through the course of filming a documentary, confirmed that Fred
Phelps Sr. was living in the hospice house named by his son but
added: “The source that says he's near death is not well informed.”
“I'm not sure how I feel about this,”
Nate Phelps said of his father's excommunication. “Terribly ironic
that his devotion to his god ends this way. Destroyed by the monster
he made.”
“I feel sad for all the hurt he's
caused so many. I feel sad for those who will lose the grandfather
and father they loved. And I'm bitterly angry that my family is
blocking the family members who left from seeing him, and saying
their good-byes.”