Changes announced in the parish of Kerry in May came into effect over the weekend.
No funerals (mass, liturgy or burial) will take place in Kerry on Sundays from now on following the introduction over the weekend of changes announced earlier this year by Bishop Ray Browne.
In May, Browne announced, following extensive consultation with laity and clergy throughout the diocese, that there would be a ban on funerals taking place on a Sunday in the 53 parishes in the diocese of Kerry from the first weekend of September onwards.
Browne said that the change was necessary for a number of reasons, particularly the availability of priests; according to the Irish Examiner, six parishes in the diocese have no resident priest and there is only one priest under the age of 40 serving in the diocese.
Kerry has become the second diocese in the country to introduce a ban on Sunday funerals following the archdiocese of Dublin.
The ban on Sunday funerals in the diocese of Kerry applies from mid-afternoon on Saturdays; removals to the church can take place on either Saturday or Sunday evening.
As regards Holy Days of Obligation, the rule will apply to Christmas Day and St Patrick’s Day.
On the other Holy Days of Obligation, for flexibility reasons, the decision is left to the local parish (while discouraging such funerals for liturgical reasons).
For more information, see the Diocese of Kerry website.
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