I come from a very similar family. It’s not weird to be conditioned in a certain way, especially if your community sees something that certain way. He’s genuinely expressing emotion at the thought of not being able to see his kid again in his faith’s afterlife, which I think really means something even though it’s what we consider “misguided” as loving yourself and/or someone else unconditionally inherently shouldn’t be “sinful”.
TLDR: Hurts like a bitch to see and hear, and could be phrased WAY, way better, but he still cares. A lot. He’s scared and that’s not OP’s fault, it’s the fault of the people who have begun to use the threat of a hell and/or underworld to make others behave and appear the way they want to.