Dear Editor, In this era where rights overshadow responsibilities and when personal preferences shout louder than Christian doctrine, it may seem churlish to point out that sacred music offered at Mass and especially during Communion should be (a) sacred and (b) appropriate.
Indeed, at the beginning of March, Pope Francis, speaking at a gathering organised by the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Pontifical Council for Culture around the theme ‘Music and the Church’, said: “The encounter with modernity and the introduction of [vernacular] tongues into the liturgy stirred up many problems: of musical languages, forms and genres.”
The Pope encouraged the various actors in the field of liturgical music to do their best to contribute to the renewal of sacred music and liturgical chant, especially as far as the quality of sacred music is concerned.
Recently, I sat bewildered during a wedding Mass when the singer unleashed a resounding version of ‘The First Time Ever I Saw your Face’ as people approached the altar to receive Communion. While there is nothing wrong with the Ewan MacColl-penned song and while Roberta Flack’s version is most amicable, I cannot see what it has to do with Communion (or Mass).
I’ve heard that ‘She Moved Through the Fair’ is another popular wedding song which is odd considering that according to the lyrics the subject of the song, the bride, actually dies before the ‘wedding’.
And at funerals, who hasn’t heard ‘In the Arms of an Angel’ (or, to give it its proper title, ‘Angel’) performed with gusto; yet this song was written about the death from drug overdose of a musician and has as the genesis of its origins a suggestion that we should not take responsibility for anyone else’s problems.
All these are fine songs and I don’t criticise them, but timing is important and surely doctrine is everything. If our priests are too politically correct to intervene and try to educate people about what is and what is not sacred music, perhaps church singers might strive to enhance their reputations by pointing out that church ceremonies are opportunities to celebrate great sacred music and are not a reason to delve into one’s playlist of ‘favourite songs of all time’?
After all, what bride chooses ‘Sweet Sacrament Divine’ as the first song they dance to at their wedding reception?
There is a time and a place for everything.
Yours etc.,
Declan Rankin,
Donnycarney, Dublin 9.
Ireland was a very different place at the time of Tuam Mother and Baby Home
Dear Editor, Some 796 bodies of babies/children are believed to have been buried on the site of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home that operated between 1925 and 1961. The average would have been 23 per year.
In 1925, when the Bon Secours Sisters took charge of the home, Ireland was coming out of the struggle for independence, a civil war, economic depression and another failure of the potato crop leading to a severe famine.
The West was particularly affected. “75% of the people had now no potatoes, their chief diet for the last two months and the harvest prospects were never worse in living memory. There is no employment.” (Freeman’s Journal)
The charity Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Nurses saw an increase in maternity and child welfare cases from 51,106 in 1924 to 67,295 in 1925.
Today in Ireland – a modern country where there is no famine, no epidemics, no typhoid and with all the modern technology and medical facilities – there have been 700 stillborn births in Irish maternity hospitals in the last two years and an average of 500 deaths of babies per year, at or around the time of birth. In 1984, there were 134 cot deaths and we can imagine these numbers to have been much higher in earlier years.
Yours etc.,
Mrs Judith Leonard,
Raheny,
Dublin 5.
Abortion should cause as much outcry as Tuam
Dear Editor, All decent people were horrified at the news of the discovery of the remains of babies and children buried on the site of the former St Mary’s Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. Oughtn’t the prospect of aborting babies for any reason, if the Eighth Amendment is repealed, cause as much of an outcry as the discovery of the remains in Tuam? I assume the babies and children buried in Tuam were not murdered but died of natural causes, but abortion is murder.
Yours etc.,
Pauline Corry,
Duleek, Co. Meath.
Catholic hierarchy needs to speak up
Dear Editor, The response from the Catholic hierarchy to recent attacks on the Church and its institutions has been weak, pathetic and mostly non-existent! The rise and ruthless bias of atheist, anti-Church, anti-religion groupings and their very effective use of social media/political pressure has been met with silence. Apologies and a total acquiescence to these pressures have left ordinary clergy and Christians open to ridicule and abuse.
The Tuam media coverage, known for years, is used now by pro-choice. Opportune! Politicians, judiciary and society were the culprits and used religious orders to contain, at the time, a social taboo. Young girls, boys, parents, Garda and other authorities were all complicit and initiators in this communal cover up.
A very cruel and myopic approach, regardless of the intention.
How does this compare in scale, barbarity and savagery with thousands of baby remains that are thrown into skips at the rear of British hospitals?
Atheists are taking over our schools and the media daily ridicule our Church and clergy. It is becoming uncool to attend Church ceremonies.
Pray by all means but please stand up and defend our Church and its teachings. Use all means to counteract the internationally-funded atheist pressure groups. Use the strength of the silent majority of Catholics to turn this very regressive tide.
Yours etc.,
Bill Spencer,
Malahide,
Co. Dublin.
Sad to bid farewell to papal nuncio
Dear Editor, The response from the Catholic hierarchy to recent attacks on the Church and its institutions has been weak, pathetic and mostly non-existent! The rise and ruthless bias of atheist, anti-Church, anti-religion groupings and their very effective use of social media/political pressure has been met with silence. Apologies and a total acquiescence to these pressures have left ordinary clergy and Christians open to ridicule and abuse.
The Tuam media coverage, known for years, is used now by pro-choice. Opportune! Politicians, judiciary and society were the culprits and used religious orders to contain, at the time, a social taboo. Young girls, boys, parents, Garda and other authorities were all complicit and initiators in this communal cover up.
A very cruel and myopic approach, regardless of the intention.
How does this compare in scale, barbarity and savagery with thousands of baby remains that are thrown into skips at the rear of British hospitals?
Atheists are taking over our schools and the media daily ridicule our Church and clergy. It is becoming uncool to attend Church ceremonies.
Pray by all means but please stand up and defend our Church and its teachings. Use all means to counteract the internationally-funded atheist pressure groups. Use the strength of the silent majority of Catholics to turn this very regressive tide.
Yours etc.,
Bill Spencer,
Malahide,
Co. Dublin.
Loyalty to Pope Francis and Holy See is as firm as ever
Dear Editor, It is generally accepted that criticism is worthwhile. But Michael W. Higgins’ criticism of the intervention of Cardinal Burke and others with regard to Amoris Laetitia is overblown (IC 09/03/2017). It should be noted that all they requested was a doctrinal clarification, which every bishop, including the Bishop of Rome, is required ex officio to provide.
Professor Higgins’ assertion that this has caused a grave level of turbulence in the Catholic Church is something of an exaggeration. While this turbulence may be found in some rarified academic circles, throughout the Church loyalty to the Holy See and Pope Francis is as firm as ever. And long may it continue to be so.
Yours etc.,
J Anthony Gaughan,
Blackrock, Co. Dublin.
