Faithful warned not to be confused by sympathy cards

A bishop has warned people not to mistakenly buy sympathy cards under the impression that they are purchasing pre-signed Mass cards.

Sympathy cards, which look very similar to Mass cards and can even have a chalice on the front cover, offer to have the “repose of the soul” of someone remembered in a priest’s daily prayers.

A card shop owner in Dublin has contacted The Irish Catholic expressing concern that no one from the company selling the sympathy cards stocked in her shop has “come back to collect the names for prayer”, saying she has “started losing my confidence in him”.

She also expressed “shock” that the same cards “are on sale at wholesale prices in bulk” at the local wholesalers.

The cards are signed by a Rev. T. Dowling and the back of the cards state that “part of the proceeds from the sale of these cards are donated monthly to worldly projects”.

Research

Bishop Phonsie Cullinan told this paper that in his research into sympathy cards, “if one tries to find out who the priest in question is, where he ministers, one will simply not be told”.

“Whereas, if one buys a Mass card from a priest or a religious congregation one knows, you can be sure that the Mass is going to be said and that its intent is going to be prayed for,” the Bishop of Waterford & Lismore said.

“This isn’t the first time that the intentions haven’t been collected – that’s a regular occurrence,” he said. “Some shops unfortunately do not check out the authenticity and credentials of the people involved in selling these sympathy cards.

“Walking into a shop with a piece of ID and photocopies of this, that and the other – I mean you could run those off any computer anywhere.”