 Is it right that this should have happened? Technically, it's right in the sense that I talked about earlier. It's sad that it unfolded the way it did and a lot of unnecessary heartache that could have been avoided wasn't. But the happy ending, at least for your father, was that he received the sacraments. And I'm sure that the priest had the authority to lift the excommunication so that your dad could die happily and peacefully and go to heaven. We pray.