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Either/Or? On Funerals Catholic and Agnostic

Either/Or? On Funerals Catholic and Agnostic ‘He had also asked for a traditional Mass, to the surprise of some. “For him it gave to people a sense of transcendence, a sense of something beyond us, even though you may not believe in it.”’These words occur in a moving ‘Irish Times’ interview with Marie Heaney, widow of Seamus Heaney, shortly after the third anniversary of her husband's death. In them she alludes briefly to a phenomenon which, apparent in a series of fairly high‐profile funerals, has become quite commonplace in Ireland and, no doubt, Europe and America: the request for a Requiem Mass from people who have publicly, if nostalgically, rejected their childhood faith in all but its ‘cultural’ manifestations (whence the neologism ‘cultural Catholic’) and have disavowed belief in God. This is, as we shall see, an uncomfortable and difficult topic for believer and unbeliever alike. Perhaps that is all the more reason for addressing it and trying to tease out some of its implications.I. THE FAITH OF THE CHURCHThe Church is generous: a baptised person who has not been excommunicated is generally accorded a Catholic funeral upon request. If the person has been a self‐professed unbeliever, the celebrant, representing the Church, will seem quietly http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Heythrop Journal Wiley

Either/Or? On Funerals Catholic and Agnostic

The Heythrop Journal , Volume 59 (1) – Jan 1, 2018

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References (1)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2018 Trustees for Roman Catholic Purposes Registered
ISSN
0018-1196
eISSN
1468-2265
DOI
10.1111/heyj.12662
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

‘He had also asked for a traditional Mass, to the surprise of some. “For him it gave to people a sense of transcendence, a sense of something beyond us, even though you may not believe in it.”’These words occur in a moving ‘Irish Times’ interview with Marie Heaney, widow of Seamus Heaney, shortly after the third anniversary of her husband's death. In them she alludes briefly to a phenomenon which, apparent in a series of fairly high‐profile funerals, has become quite commonplace in Ireland and, no doubt, Europe and America: the request for a Requiem Mass from people who have publicly, if nostalgically, rejected their childhood faith in all but its ‘cultural’ manifestations (whence the neologism ‘cultural Catholic’) and have disavowed belief in God. This is, as we shall see, an uncomfortable and difficult topic for believer and unbeliever alike. Perhaps that is all the more reason for addressing it and trying to tease out some of its implications.I. THE FAITH OF THE CHURCHThe Church is generous: a baptised person who has not been excommunicated is generally accorded a Catholic funeral upon request. If the person has been a self‐professed unbeliever, the celebrant, representing the Church, will seem quietly

Journal

The Heythrop JournalWiley

Published: Jan 1, 2018

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