The Irish Bishops' Conference has issued a set of guidelines dealing
with the Church's official stance on Mass offerings in a further step to
raise awareness of the prevalence of bogus Mass cards.
The bishops discussed the regulation of the sale of Mass cards in
their October meeting and agreed to publish support information on the
issue.
The new seven-point guidelines stipulate that the Mass must never
be an occasion for ''buying and selling'' or ''making money'', nor
should there be even the slightest appearance of making a profit from
Mass offerings.
The guidelines state that ''signed or stamped Mass Cards for sale to
the public in shops and other commercial outlets is a practice that is
not approved by the Irish Episcopal Conference, the Major Religious
Superiors or the Superiors of Missionary Societies''.
The bishops say
this practice undermines a ''correct Eucharistic Theology'', is
''unacceptable'' and they ask that it be discontinued.
The sale of pre-signed Mass cards without the permission of a bishop
or religious superior is illegal in Ireland under the Charities Act
(2009), and the bishops point out that the Church's norms and
regulations about Mass offerings were already clearly set out in the
1983 Code of Canon Law and in the 1991 Decree Mos Iugiter.
A spokesperson for the Irish Bishops' Conference has confirmed that
the bishops have undertaken to write to several Episcopal conferences
overseas in order to ''enlist their support to prevent the sale of
pre-signed Mass cards'' in Irish shops.
It is also understood that the Irish Charities Tax Reform Group
(ICTRG), which lobbies on legislation on behalf of charity groups, are
drafting guidelines on fundraising under the Charities Act, which will
give advice to retailers being offered Mass cards for sale and also for
members of the public who wish to buy such cards.
SIC: IC/IE