The commitment to the Truth

Every now and then someone gets peeved at something that happens in church and resorts to the nearest secular confessional. They often tell what they perceive as the sins of others!

On Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1, Tuesday) someone complained that eulogies weren’t allowed in the Diocese of Meath, and that the rules required that any photos of the deceased had to be on a small table but not on the coffin.  Obviously, people’s feelings were hurt and that has to be acknowledged. A statement from the Diocese explained that eulogies weren’t ‘in keeping with the solemnity of the Mass’, and asked for anyone affected to contact the bishop’s office. I hope the matter will be treated with pastoral care and I’d prefer if there was a spokesperson to explain or defend the rules rather than just a statement. If something is defensible, defend it. If it’s not then scrap it! That doesn’t mean that the defence or explanation has to be accepted or even understood fully by everybody, but it should be both rational and spiritual.

Some took the opportunity for swipes at the Church. At times presenter Joe Duffy stood up for the right of the Church to make ‘the ultimate decision’ on such matters. There was a wide discussion on what exactly the Church was – the people, the Vatican, the buildings? I didn’t hear a mention of the Body of Christ. There was puzzlement as to why the rules seemed to vary from diocese to diocese, though I’d say it’s more a case of the implementation varying. I had always thought eulogies were not allowed, but that they often happened in practice. It can be a fine line between homily and eulogy – Joe Duffy quoted a priest to that effect in relation to the funeral of former Taoiseach John Bruton. He also asked if the eulogy could be abused (he instanced crime gang funerals). I certainly have experienced some cringeworthy examples. Some later callers supported the stance of the church. One woman said she wanted no eulogy, just to keep it ‘simple and straightforward when He calls me home’.

The next day, before the Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk, Wednesday) the upcoming items were flagged in a rather problematic way. One item was to be about a woman getting a top job in the Vatican with a ‘BUT …’ added. It felt a bit mean-spirited. In the second promo the host added a bit more – ‘BUT … she’s got to share it with a man’. He also suggested that Facebook was abandoning its ‘commitment to truth’ (hyperbolics!) by getting rid of fact-checkers for the USA.  They played a clip from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, explaining that there was going to be more free expression and that there had been too much political bias and too many errors from the fact checkers (irony alert!). I was reminded of lines from the Carole King song ‘It’s too late baby now it’s too late’. I was inclined to agree with guest Ciara O’Brien of The Irish Times that Zuckerberg was just cosying up to the Trump administration. The host put it pithily – ‘I don’t think he’s a Trump supporter, but he wants to stop being a Trump enemy’.

Ciara O’Brien suggested that ‘facts are not biased’, but that was disingenuous – a lot depends on what facts you check out and what facts you leave out. You’d need fact checkers to fact-check the fact checkers.

On the Vatican story, and Sister Simona Brambilla sharing her role as Prefect of the Dicastery for Religious with a cardinal, Elise Ann Allen on the Crux website clarified the matter. The Sister was still in charge, but because there were some questions in canon law about decisions having to be signed by an ordained priest, a cardinal was added to fulfil that function.

I doubt if it was intentional that the Baptism-themed Simpsons (Channel 4, Sunday) coincided with the feast day of the Baptism of Jesus. The hyper-religious Flanders family was horrified that the Simpsons’ children hadn’t been baptised and immediately drives them to the river. Just before the water hits Bart, Homer dives in and takes the water instead. Bart is impressed – ‘You took a baptismal for me!’ Homer briefly says something very spiritual about St Augustine of Hippo before reverting to his usual self. Some might find it disrespectful, but at least it makes a point about sneaky baptisms!

Pick of the week

THE SIMPSONS
Channel 4 Saturday (night) January 18, 4:40am
Bart Sells His Soul
Bart sells his soul to his friend Milhouse and feels the emptiness. (S7 Ep4/25)

The Meaning of Life
RTE One Sunday January 19, 10:30pm
Joe Duffy meets Kilkenny-born Paralympic Champion, medical doctor and world-renowned tenor Ronan Tynan

March for Life
EWTN Friday January 24, 2:30pm
Live and complete coverage of the most important pro-life event of the year: the annual March for Life in Washington DC.