Ruadhán Jones
Church leaders are hopeful that more and more parishioners will step up and preside at funerals to ease the burden on overworked priests, with two dioceses already commissioning laypeople to take charge where there is no priest.
More than 70 new lay leaders in Clogher and Down and Connor dioceses are undertaking training to preside over funerals in the two dioceses, with the dioceses praising participants for “stepping forward and embracing the ministry with enthusiasm, compassion and commitment”.
In the coming months, the leaders will be commissioned and begin their work in parishes across the two dioceses.
“It’s a very welcome development and flows from the initiative of Bishop of Clogher Larry Duffy, who sought to invite and involve more lay people in parish ministry including some liturgical ministry,” Dr Gary Carville, communications officer for Clogher, told The Irish Catholic.
“It’s very heartening that over 40 people have been nominated by their parish and volunteered to come foward for their training” which will be carried out in conjunction with the ministry teams of Down and Connor.
“What is envisaged is that it will be lay people leading the liturgy for the reception of the body at the church and the rite of committal at the graveside,” Dr Carville explained. “This involves training and formation and ongoing mentoring and support. That is what is being provided to parishes and parish clusters and at a diocesan level.”
At the heart of the new ministry lies “the call of Christ to serve the people of God,” he added.
“This is ministry, this is serving, this is caring. We are very hopeful for the future,” said Dr Carville.
Bishops have pledged their support to laity and parishes to develop “new ways” of preparing for and celebrating funerals. Thousands of funerals take place in the dioceses each year, placing a heavy burden on clergy at a time when vocations are dwindling. This is particularly acute given the fact that funeral obsequies in Ireland traditionally occur quickly.
Bishop of Clogher Larry Duffy said that training, formation and ongoing support will be “absolutely necessary” to encourage more laity to take on the new ministries.
Parishes in Clogher have already established bereavement ministry teams, taking up the challenge “with great vitality”, Bishop Duffy said.
In Down and Connor parishes undertook a “pilot project” over the summer of lay women and men helping families prepare for funerals and leading the prayers at gravesides or the crematorium.
Bishop Donal McKeown, apostolic administrator for Down and Connor, predicted that “Very soon, it is also likely that in some parishes, the celebration of a Requiem Mass for every individual as part of the funeral rites may no longer be the norm” in a pastoral letter.
Many other Irish dioceses are planning to follow suit and establish, with Limerick diocese and Kildare and Leighlin making plans to provide formation to laypeople in leading communal prayer and liturgical services.
In Ireland’s largest diocese, Dublin, ongoing training is already taking place for lay funeral ministers.
The move comes at a time when the Church is seeking to renew lay ministries, including those of instituted lectors, acolytes and catechists.