THE Catholic Bishop of Meath has hit out at
politicians who have "jumped on the bandwagon" and made the church an
object of sustained attack and "ridicule".
Bishop Michael Smith was speaking in Knock at the annual Meath diocesan pilgrimage to the Co Mayo shrine.
In his homily, the bishop lashed out at political representatives for attacking the church in an effort to gain "cheap publicity" or to divert attention from a problem.
"Faith is always tried and tested," he warned.
He also accused the media of being "compliant" and only too happy to join in the fun. As a result, balance, fairness, and engagement with the real issues was largely absent from public discussion, he said.
Bishop Smith's comments follow his publication of new guidelines for funeral Masses in which he urged priests in his diocese to uphold the integrity of the Catholic liturgy and ruled out the use of secular songs, poems and texts.
His diocese includes most of counties Meath and Westmeath, plus parts of Offaly, Longford, Louth, Dublin and Cavan.
The bishop warned against "dumbing down'' at Catholic funeral services, and emphasised that priests must uphold the "integrity of the Mass''.
Eulogies should not take place in the church, he said.
However, they may take place after the Rite of Committal in the cemetery or at a later stage.
The guidelines also state that secular songs, poems and texts devoid of a Christian content were out of place in the funeral liturgy.
Speaking in Knock about the economic crisis, Bishop Smith said there was a lesson to be learnt in how easily greed, self-interest and corruption took hold in the lives of so many and left the country with enormous debts. This had impacted on the lives of all, he said.
"Ethical principles too were notably absent," he said in his homily.
VALUES
Posing the question of where Irish society found its ethical foundations if the values of its Christian heritage were jettisoned, he asked: "Are personal convenience and self-interest to be the arbiters of action in which one's conscience is no longer deemed to have a place?"
"Will such shifting foundations bring cohesion and stability to society, to relationships, to individual lives," he asked.
The bishop also made a strong statement in support of the sick and elderly, many of whom have been concerned by reports that they may be facing cuts to the old pension.
He said age did not take from people the capacity to commune with God.