Dear Editor, I was delighted to read that Minister Frances Fitzgerald will not be lifting the ban on the sale of alcohol on Good Friday (IC 30/03/2017).
Every year publicans bring up this issue as if it is some kind of religious persecution to deny them one day’s profit in a country that has a serious national drinking problem. It is true that people who do not drink on Good Friday for religious reasons can choose to stay out of the pubs, but I think the ban goes beyond its religious roots and now represents an opportunity for the nation to consider its relationship with alcohol.
It is interesting that the other day on which it is illegal to sell alcohol in Ireland, Christmas Day, is never challenged by the publicans. One can only assume that they like to have Christmas off.
Yours etc.,
Stanley Waters,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.
Others training lay people to cover priests
Dear Editor, Greg Daly’s article (IC 23/03/2017) about Limerick arranging prayer meetings in all parishes shows a welcome initiative of Vatican II’s more reformed idea of the permanent diaconate. Nevertheless, many other countries are training lay people for auxiliary services to supply a lack of priests.
In South Africa, for instance, a province of the English Jesuits, one has experience of Eucharistic Ministers being further trained, e.g. in the central Johannesburg University Parish, to perform daily (evening) non-consecration Mass liturgies, using the Prayers of the Missal for the day plus suitable occasional prayers. Then, Holy Communion is distributed at the appropriate time and the “Eucharistic Service” is complete.
I have even known this to replace a Saturday Vigil Mass, where a mini-sermon, provided by the absent priest, is read out by the minister. The evening time usually suits both celebrant and congregation returning from work. This service provides both for daily prayer and Holy Communion.
Apart from hospital visits with Holy Communion, another function there is to conduct funeral services at the five city funeral parlours (including the crematorium), proceeding afterwards to the cemetery for the burial rites.
These and suchlike changes do take time, but it is hoped the full permanent diaconate will soon follow.
Yours etc.,
Patrick Morgan,
Rosslare Harbour,
Co. Wexford
Congratulations on exposé
Dear Editor, The Irish Catholic is to be congratulated on its March 30 exposure of attempts by George Soros’ Open Society Foundation (OSF) to further undermine Ireland’s pro-life culture.
Last August after reading an Irish Independent article detailing the OSF funding of three Irish organisations to promote repeal of the Eighth Amendment, I wrote to SIPO questioning the legality of this foreign funding. Dealing with SIPO was tortuous and eventually I was told that monies given to both Amnesty and the Family Planning Association were not being used for political purposes. Thanks to Greg Daly’s article we learn that the foreign money is being used by these organisations for education purposes.
I think our schools should be more vigilant of foreign financed infiltrators promoting repeal of our pro-life laws, while disguising themselves as exponents of human rights. In this I am reminded of an event 15 years ago when Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue appeared before a House of Commons Committee and justified his Lancaster diocese’s denial of Amnesty International access to Catholic schools.
Yours etc.,
Alan Whelan,
Killarney,
Co. Kerry.
Some answers on the issue of priestly celibacy
Dear Editor, Terry Healy raises two very important questions regarding the issue of priestly celibacy (Letters 23/03/2017).
Firstly, why do Catholic priests have to be celibate? Priests take a vow of celibacy freely so that they can devote all their efforts in the service of God without the distraction of the worries of married life. The Second Lateran Council (1139) decreed that a marriage of a priest would not only be unlawful but also invalid. The Church can dispense with this law if and when the time is right.
Secondly, to answer Terry’s point regarding a priest taking a wife, it must be understood that the Church would be responsible for the family of the priest, providing salary, housing and education of the children. This will put an enormous burden on the parish and the diocese in which the priest is working. Where will all the money come from? The people who are calling for the Church to change the law regarding married priests have every right to do so but, are they attending church regularly and contributing to the upkeep of their parish church and schools?
The parish church and schools are held in trust for the parishioners and there is an obligation on all parishioners to support their upkeep. If parishioners lived up to their obligations then the issue of whether priests should be allowed to marry could be discussed openly by the Church and the laity. This may be a long way off considering the half empty churches nationally.
Yours etc.
Herbert F. Eyre,
North Strand,
Dublin.
Some advance notification is needed for lay-led liturgies
Dear Editor, I write in relation to lay-led liturgies. In his encyclical letter Ecclesia De Eucharistia, the late Pope John Paul II wrote: “Parishes are communities of the baptised who express and affirm their identity above all through the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice. When a community lacks a priest, attempts are rightly made somehow to remedy the situation so that it can continue its Sunday celebration. Those laity who lead their brothers and sisters in prayer, exercise in a praiseworthy way, the common priesthood of all the faithful based on the grace of Baptism. However, such solutions must be considered merely temporary, while the community awaits a priest.”
I believe good, sound catechesis is very necessary in the area of lay-led liturgies. In the name of fairness, the Christian community should be told in advance if they are having such a liturgy, as this will allow those who wish to attend Sunday Mass, to make alternative arrangements. Once this is made clear then I see no difficulty with lay-led liturgies.
I will conclude with a further quote from the said encyclical: “We are constantly tempted to reduce the Eucharist to our own dimensions, while in reality it is we who must open ourselves up to the dimension of the Mystery. The Eucharist is too great a gift to tolerate ambiguity and depreciation.”
Yours etc.,
Fr Michael Reddan SVD,
Donamon,
Co. Roscommon
Renua’s official declaration
Dear Editor, I welcome the news that Renua has declared itself a pro-life party (IC 30/03/2017). It really was a surprise that it had not done so at the time it was launched. So many people like myself who attended the RDS “monster rally” organised by Renua’s precursor the Reform Alliance, did so arguably because they were impressed by the courage of those Fine Gael TDs who lost the party whip because they could not in conscience vote in favour of abortion.
While Lucinda Creighton may have taken this support for granted, I do wish John Leahy, the new Renua leader, well in his work ahead. Pro-life supporters vary in backgrounds and age, some are pro-life because of a belief in the human rights of the unborn child, others based on faith reasons and many for both reasons. I believe it is important that all of us who value the dignity and value of all life come together to work to protect the constitutional protection of the Eighth Amendment that our previous generation, in their wisdom put in place.
Yours etc.,
Frank Browne,
Templeogue,
Dublin 16.