[https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/priestless-funerals-part-of-radical-new-proposals-to-combat-declining-clergy-numbers-41810602.html](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/priestless-funerals-part-of-radical-new-proposals-to-combat-declining-clergy-numbers-41810602.html)
11 comments
This is surely good news. How long will “a la carte” catholics stick around when it’s not the priest doing the funerals?
And you’d imagine if numbers keep going the way they’re going, other sacraments like weddings and baptisms will go the same way. I’d hope that eventually people will turn away when they wind up with some random holy Joe saying the prayers for them instead of the priest.
Thank God for the SSPX who will not abandon their flock like these disgraceful priests. To deny faithful Catholics a funeral mass is so evil but they got cozy during Covid, enjoyed sitting at home doing nothing. For shame.
“Well, we seem to be running out of priests. What’ll we do?”
“Hm… Lessen the amount of churches in condensed areas?”
“No, that’ll be too awkward.”
“Welcome women into the clergy like many others have?”
“A woman in the church? You’ve gone mad.”
“Sure, I dunno then, what about just not feckin’ showing up?!”
“You’re a genius, Pat!”
What the government should be doing is buying up churches and turning them into a local function halls that can be used by anybody. Community spaces are lacking in a lot of places around the country. Let anyone get married in them, start allowing alternative cultures to the Catholic church.
Sometime r/Ireland will jump out and say “women priests” and I have to think very quickly and say “I’m in favour of them”
Good. Its a shame to lose the traditional ways but fuck the church the sooner they are gone the better.
We’re probably going to see a lot of priests drafted in from abroad over time as the numbers decline.
How about a priestless Ireland
Has anyone blamed FFG for this state of affairs yet?
Self serve funerals? What’s gonna happen? Dropping the coffin into the ground and you hear “Unexpected Item in the Burying Area”?
OK we have non-denominational weddings, are you able to have priest free funerals because that sounds great.
When my father died, and we sat in grief, the priest took time to say that while he was a pillar of the community and well known for helping everyone who ever asked, even he would not go straight to heaven and would need our constant prayers to ensure that one day he would be saved. So fuck you to that guy.
At a funeral just before the marriage referendum another priest told us all that the lady who had died was a good catholic and would have agreed that marriage should and must be between a man and a woman, which was fucking odd because she had a gay son and a rainbow flag in her window when I passed the house and had told us all to vote Yes.