With Irish Catholics increasingly declining to go to church to be married, or to christen their children, it now appears that they are to be restricted in how they mourn their loved ones. The decision by the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Brady, on the delivery of eulogies during the funeral Mass will cause upset and hurt to many of the faithful.
The diocesan authorities say that the delivery of eulogies after Holy Communion is at variance with the central liturgy of the Mass. They suggest that if families or friends of the deceased wish to pay tribute to their memory, or to acknowledge the gift of their lives, they should do so during the vigil, whether at home or in a funeral parlour; before Mass; at the graveside or, perhaps, in the newspapers. A spokesman for the archdiocese, Fr Clayton-Lea did his best to put a good face on all this on yesterday morning's Marian Finucane programme on RTE radio.
It is not plausible. And it adds to the conviction of those who would wish the Catholic Church nothing but good, that it no longer has any sense of how to connect with the real needs of its flock. No doubt an argument can be constructed that a eulogy or tribute to a loved one is inherently a secular action and not part of the liturgy of the Church. But what is the Church supposed to be about if it is not about people's needs - especially at important moments of their lives? This directive sends the unmistakable signal that it is the formalism of the clerical mind which still takes priority. The Church may be the people's but the programme will be set by the bishops and priests.
It is clear, with diminishing congregations and empty pews, that Mass, as presented in the current liturgy, is increasingly seen by many Catholics as irrelevant and uninteresting. The practice of delivering a eulogy at a funeral Mass has given a new sense of accessibility to many who have found themselves otherwise unmoved by the Church's rites. For so many families and friends, the words spoken before a final parting have an immense capacity for healing. If charity is indeed the greatest virtue, it often finds an ideal opportunity to flower in these few minutes of tribute, of reconciliation, of forgiveness.
To urge families to use funeral parlours or the graveside or the newspapers in this context falls somewhere between foolishness and insensitivity. The environment of funeral parlours is rarely conducive. They are not nearly as spacious as the churches and relatively few people attend. Graveside orations may be practicable on the rare day when the sun shines warmly. But the idea cannot be sensible on the great majority of days when Irish weather brings rain, cold or wind. What is to happen to the elderly, the very young, or the infirm, on such days? If the Hierarchy were wise they would forget about this initiative. But they probably will not. They have seldom enough shown themselves willing to put human needs before Church formalism. The congregations will shrink further and they will wonder why.