Saoirse McMenamin of St Joseph’s Primary School, Ederney,
Co. Fermanagh, relaxes after her
Confirmation celebrations in St
Joseph’s Church in May in the Diocese of Clogher Bishops are to continue with First Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies this month despite the Government renewing an appeal that the ceremonies be delayed.
It was revealed last week that bishops in Waterford & Lismore, Elphin, Raphoe, and Killaloe had given priests the green light to proceed with Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies if they felt it was safe to do so. They were joined by cross-border bishops in Armagh, Derry and Clogher who also advised priests in their parishes in the Republic that they could proceed on the same basis. The Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell said that while he felt the ceremonies should wait, he would not stand in the way of parishes that wanted to proceed.
Criticised
However, this was criticised by the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and after a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 the Government asked that the ceremonies be delayed until September.
However, The Irish Catholic understands that the advice from the sub-committee has not changed plans in any of the dioceses that already said they would proceed.
This newspaper understands that the bishops in the dioceses will perform some of the Confirmation ceremonies themselves while others will be presided over by the parish priest and numbers restricted to those permitted by the current public health advice.
According to Church law, the “ordinary minister’ for the Sacrament of Confirmation is a bishop. However, the law also allows bishops to delegate this faculty to priests – something which has become more common in recent years.
Meaningful
The Irish Catholic understands that parishes in the Republic who are proceeding with the sacraments are working to ensure that the ceremonies remain meaningful to the children and their families while being simpler than in previous years. It is also being impressed upon families the need to ensure that post-ceremony social celebrations are carried out in a responsible fashion and in line with Government advice aimed at slowing the spread of the pandemic.
First Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies have been proceeding in the North since spring with no reported Covid-19 related incidents.