A Time For Change?

Here is a very interesting article from Francis Phillips in the Catholic Herald, and a timely one too.  The situations described and the questions raised are relevant for us in Ireland too. 

In fact just last Sunday during my homily for Pentecost, as I was reflecting on our personal Pentecost - our confirmation, I asked similar questions: as confirmation seems more the Sacrament of exit rather than the Sacrament of greater participation and responsibility in the Church, do we now need to reassess when the Sacrament should be given, and be more careful in our discerning as to who receives it? I asked.  I could see a few people shifting uncomfortably in the pews.

These are legitimate questions to ask in age when most Catholics are nominal at best, and for whom the Sacraments are nothing more than rites of passage.  How often have I heard Baptism described as a naming ceremony?  Or the Eucharist referred to as the "holy bread"?  Of course I do not blame the children, they are only responding to what they have been taught. 

Here in Ireland, though many try to deny it, there is a crisis of catechesis - two generations have not been taught the faith and that is largely due to an inadequate catechetical programme.  Tinkering with this programme will not help matters - it needs to be scrapped and a new programme based on the Catechism should be written from scratch and (AND!) submitted to Rome for approval.   This is, of course, a project for new personnel. 

One of the issues that will also need to be considered is where we prepare children for the Sacraments.  At the moment it is done in our schools which are overwhelmingly Catholic (in number if not completely in ethos), and we tend to leave the formation of children to the teachers. We priests go in and meet the children and meet parents, but the bulk of the work falls on the teacher.  When the teacher has the faith, practices it and has the skills to pass it on they cannot be rivalled.  However, in increasing numbers, our teachers do not have the faith, do not practice, do not understand it, and rely heavily on an inadequate catechetical programme to hand it on. 

Is it not time to consider taking Sacramental preparation out of the schools (keeping religion as a subject to assist the process?)?  Let each parish takes responsibility for preparing the children or teenagers, or adults, for the Sacraments, or if the parish cannot cope, it can be done on a deanery level.   Abolishing the "age" for reception of the various Sacraments would also help, as would the "big day" ceremonies.  Each candidate is assessed as an individual, and when they are ready, if they are practicing, they are given the Sacraments. 

In terms of order, I would return to the original order of the process of initiation, and give Confirmation before First Communion - both in the same ceremony, again when the individual is ready be they seven, ten, thirteen or eighteen.  The Sacraments should become a process of maturity in faith and not something done at a certain age.  The Bishop can still come for the annual ceremony in a parish, there would be no need to be granting faculties to parish priests every week - that episcopal visit is very important for a parish - people love to see their Bishop.

A few, radical thoughts for an Irish priest (there goes my chance of a mitre, thank God!!), but I do believe we need to start asking questions and be prepared to break the mould which custom (and custom alone) has created.  It does not undermine the decision of St Pius X, but as Francis Phillips points out, we live in a different age.

And today is the feast of St Joan of Arc, happy feast to you all!

What's In A Name?



My silence over the last fews days has been due to preparations for Confirmation in the parish, which took place yesterday and went well, thank God.  My first year as a pastor has presented all sorts and I am learning.  While I assisted at Confirmation in my last parish, this year the buck stopped at my desk, so I had to make sure everything went smoothly, and it did.  We had sixty-eight children for the sacrament and all of them took a saint's name rather than conform to the new trend of picking the name of a pop stars or actor: there wasn't a Britney or Beyonce in sight! 

I would encourage priests when preparing the children to introduce them to the saints and tell them the stories of their lives - the children love them.  Every one of the children yesterday knew who their saint was and chose the saint rather than just the name, and they seem happy to start a relationship with their new patron.  Some chose names of parents, uncles or aunts, or other relations, but they also knew and chose the saint, and found something in common with them.  This provides a perfect opportunity to help the children move towards the practice of virtue by admiring the saint heroes and heroines and then, hopefully, imitating them.  I hope this good work that has been started will continue.

Back To Basics?

There is an interesting development in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, announced a couple of days ago. The decision has been taken to return to the original order of the Sacraments of Initiation - i.e. Confirmation will now be given before First Holy Communion.   According to the diocesan statement, the sacrament of Confirmation will now be given to candidates who are prepared for it around the age of eight, and then sometime afterwards, they will receive their First Holy Communion, I think with First Confession somewhere in between.

This is something to watch, I think, and see how they get on.  A number of theologians have for some time expressed misgivings over the present system we have in the Church where Holy Communion is given at seven or eight, and Confirmation a number of years later - the process of initiation is out of kilter, and to be honest I do have to agree with them.  In the Orthodox churches the three sacraments are given together - the child is baptised, confirmed and then given a tiny fragment of the Eucharist, and then after a number of years instruction, the child begins to receive Holy Communion on a regular basis.  I know Protestant denominations, Anglicans included, give Confirmation to the candidate when they are in their teens, and then they receive communion for the first time.  It was Pope St Pius X who allowed children receive Holy Communion at an earlier age, partly inspired by a saintly little Irish girl, Nellie Organ who had been given permission to receive it at the age of four, having demonstrated she had reached the age of reason early and had a profound understanding of, and love for, the Eucharist.

Is it time for us in Ireland to follow Liverpool's lead?  I think we should think about it and watch how things go in Liverpool.  Certainly, as I and many others have said on numerous occasions, there is an urgent need for our catechetical programme to be overhauled (in my opinon, programme trashed, new orthodox people put in place to work with the official Catechism of the Church to design, write and implement a new programme, and a strict process put in place to ensure diocesan catechists are following and adhering to the programme).    Seeing as the Church in Ireland is beginning to reform - I hear great things are happening in some areas of the Apostolic Visitation, we might begin a conversation with Rome to see if we should return to the original practice as Liverpool is doing.  I realise there may be some problems, not least among them the age at which Confirmation is to be given.  But, again, we will keep an eye on how Liverpool fares out.