No more funerals on Sunday in change to church business

SUNDAY funerals are to become a thing of the past across the Catholic Diocese of Kerry from September 1 in a move designed to ease the often heavy burden of services on the Sabbath at a time of fewer clerics than before.

The change was flagged at Sunday Masses via an announcement by Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne in which it was stated that ‘from Sunday, September 1, removals to the church can take place on either Saturday or Sunday evening. Mass on Monday’.

“Some people will have reservations about this decision. However, it has not been taken lightly but after extensive consultation with laity and clergy throughout the diocese,” it read. The Diocese said the change was necessary in order to protect the integrity of the Sunday Mass as the primary focus of the Sabbath.

“Sunday funerals will no longer be sustainable in every parish since five parishes no longer have a resident priest,” it continued.

Parish Priest of St Brendan’s Parish in Tralee Fr Pádraig Walsh said he expected the move would meet with general approval among the bereaved.

“In fact I’ve met families who opted not to have a Funeral Mass on a Sunday as they felt the emphasis on their departed loved ones might not be as it should with so much else taking place at Sunday Masses,” Fr Walsh told The Kerryman.

“There are two reasons behind the move primarily. First, Sunday is the day for Christians and Catholics to come together as a community to focus on the Mass so this change underpins the integrity of this whole experience.

“Sunday funerals can also prove difficult when trying to juggle all the duties on major feast days in the calendar. Also, in recent years we have such things as First Communion preparation taking place at one Sunday Mass each month...so it is probably more dignified for funerals to move away from Sundays,” Fr Walsh added.