In its Aug. 28 statement, the archdiocese said that when Fuller discussed his desire for a funeral with his pastor, Fr. Maurice Mamba, the priest discussed the gift of life and tried to convince him to change his mind. He made it clear that neither he nor the parish could support his plan to take his own life."
Archbishop Etienne served as a priest of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis from 1992 until 2009, when he was appointed Bishop of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
In 2016, Pope Francis named him to head the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska.
At the time of his appointment as coadjutor of Seattle April 29, 2019, Etienne wrote in a blog post that he has known Archbishop Sartain for many years, and has nothing but "admiration and esteem" for him.
Etienne, an outdoorsman, grew up as one of six children. He has two brothers who are priests and a sister who is a religious sister.
He graduated from the University of St. Thomas/St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a degree in business administration before studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
After serving as an associate pastor and assistant vocations director in Indianapolis for a period, he returned to Rome to receive his licentiate in spiritual theology.
In the U.S., he later served as vocations director in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, vice-rector of the Bishop Simon Brute College Seminary in Indianapolis, and as a parish priest.
He was appointed Bishop of Cheyenne in 2009. He has served as a metropolitan, the Archbishop of Anchorage, since November 2016.
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.