Westboro Baptist Church founder Rev. Fred Phelps is reportedly in ill health and nearing his death.

Fred Phelps 'On Edge Of Death'

Phelps, 84, has been admitted to a hospice facility, according to his estranged son, Nathan Phelps. “I’ve learned that my father, Fred Phelps Sr., pastor of the ‘God Hates F–s’ Westboro Baptist Church … is now on the edge of death at Midland Hospice in Topeka, Kansas,” Nathan Phelps wrote on Facebook.

“I'm not sure how I feel about this. Terribly ironic that his devotion to his god ends this way. Destroyed by the monster he made,” Nathan Phelps added. “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.”

Westboro spokesman Steve Drain confirmed Phelps’ dire condition to the New York Daily News. “I can tell you that Fred Phelps is having some health problems,” Drain elaborated. “He’s an old man and old people get health problems.”

Phelps & The Westboro Baptist Church

Phelps founded the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas in 1955. Over the last few decades, the church has achieved global infamy for protesting the funerals of celebrities and soldiers, and their harsh positions regarding the LGBT community. One of the church's earlier protests that received ample coverage was that of the funeral of Matthew Shepherd, who was killed in an anti-gay attack near the University of Wyoming in 1998.

In recent years, the Westboro Baptist Church has protested against marriage equality and have attended funerals of American soldiers bearing sings that read “Thank God for dead soldiers and “Thank God for 9/11.”

According to Nathan Phelps' Facebook post, Fred Phelps was ex-communicated from the Westboro Baptist Church in August 2013, though a reason for the ex-communication was not given.

– Chelsea Regan

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