Bishop defends his `Silent Night' view

The Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey, has denied saying that Silent Night should not be sung in early to mid-December.

In his "very nearly amusing pastoral letter" last Sunday, he had said that during Advent people should sing Advent hymns. "Singing Silent Night, for example, in a church or carol service in early to mid-December is a nonsense."

What he had said on the matter was addressed to the churches, he said on RTE's Pat Kenny Show yesterday. He had not expected to see his comments reported under headlines such as "Comiskey cribs over silent night", as was the case with one national daily. In his pastoral, Dr Comiskey said for Christians Advent was "a time of waiting and watching", while for the commercial world it was "a time of consummation and consumption." For that reason he suggested to Christians that singing Silent Night in a church or carol service in early to mid-December was "a nonsense". He also felt the empty crib in a church "speaks eloquently of longing and preparation". He suggested that Christmas parties should take place during the Christmas season, from December 25th onwards - including "the much-neglected" feast of the Epiphany (January 6th).

He said there was nothing to be gained about the way the world celebrates Christmas. "There's a lot of loving, a lot of generosity, a lot of happiness and a lot of goodness in that world," he said, and Christians should avoid all selfrighteousness in speaking about the way the world celebrates.

He pointed out that the world had celebrated a winter festival long before the coming of Christ. Christians should emulate their ancestors, "who `stole' or at least borrowed what was good in their culture, and `baptised' it". Last year there was standing room only when children were invited to have their toys blessed at Mass.