Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese has called for a review of the speed with which funerals take place in Ireland.
In a new policy document on funerals it notes that
funerals in Ireland traditionally take place very quickly, often less
than 48 hours after death has occurred.
Changes in society and in the church “require a review of this practice”, it said.
An “increase in the number and frequency of funerals,
the desire by families and the Christian community to make funerals
fitting celebrations; the availability of priests; cemetery staff, the
travel needs of family members living abroad, all must be taken into
consideration”, it said.
The archdiocese’s new policy on funerals was
necessary because of “the ageing population which can be concentrated in
certain parishes or groupings,” it said.
It encouraged every parish “to have a funeral
ministry team” consisting of “ religious and lay, men and women, who
have been trained in providing support at a time of loss”.
The policy advises that funeral Masses and services
“are not to be celebrated in crematorium chapels, funeral homes or
similar locations” but should be “ in the parish church”.
A Bible,
cross, and funeral pall may be placed on the coffin but not mementoes of
the deceased. These should be placed on a “table of remembrance”.
Suitable music
Musical preferences at the funeral Mass are
discouraged if “they are not in keeping with the celebration of the
funeral rites or a place of Christian worship.”
Secular music “would be
more suited to the wake in the home”.
Words of appreciation, which should be delivered
before or after the funeral Mass, or in the cemetery or crematorium
later, should be “no longer than five minutes, written down and
delivered by one person.”
These should be “words of tribute to the deceased and of thanks to those who have helped and supported the family.”
It advises that an immediate family member may not be
the best person to deliver an appreciation if unused to public speaking
or, possibly, overcome with grief.
And, it pointed out, an appreciation
was “not obligatory” and “people should feel totally free not to have
one.”