Bishop of Parramatta


	Each month Bishop Manning answers questions from the Catholic Community of Parramatta Diocese, which is published in 'Catholic Outlook', the official diocesan newspaper. To review previous questions and answers from the Bishop visit the archive.
	July 2006 Questions Bishops are asked By Bishop Kevin Manning, Catholic Outlook, July 2006 Question Last week I attended a funeral where there were three eulogies. I thought this somewhat excessive, which leads me to ask: what place has the eulogy at a funeral? Answer You touch on a rather vexed topic here, one where misunderstandings and misinterpretations abound, leading, more often than not, to liturgical abuses. First of all, we need to understand the function of a eulogy and the purpose of the whole funeral liturgy. Originally, a eulogy was an oral or written piece in praise of someone who could be dead but, more often, was alive. Frequently, the eulogy was in praise of the person who commissioned it. So there was an understandable tendency towards flattery on the part of the eulogist. Clearly, the main function of the eulogy is to praise a person. We have to ask ourselves: how does this fit with the purpose of the Christian funeral liturgy? A funeral liturgy is a time when the community gathers, with the family and friends of the deceased, to give praise and thanks to God for Christ's victory over sin and death, to commend the deceased to God's tender mercy and compassion, and to seek strength and comfort for the mourners in the prayers and rites of the Church (OCF, 129). It is an expression of our Catholic faith, in which we proclaim our hope in Christ, and gather in love for the deceased and the bereaved. You can appreciate that its purpose is not to celebrate the life of a person. This is why the liturgical books state clearly that there should not be a eulogy of any kind, and emphasise the importance of the homily, which helps the members of the assembly to understand how God's love, and Jesus' victorious death and resurrection, were present in the life and death of the deceased, and are active in their own lives as well. Through the homily, members of the family and the community should receive consolation and strength to face the death of one of their members with a hope nourished by the Saving Word of God (GIRM 338; OCF 27). That said, there is a provision at the Vigil, and at the funeral liturgy itself, for someone to speak in remembrance of the deceased before the Concluding Rite. But the words have an entirely different function from a eulogy understood as a speech of praise. The mood they strike needs to be in keeping with the purposes of the funeral liturgy as described above. Unfortunately, nowadays, a proliferation of eulogies detracts from the Mass, or funeral service, and are seen by many to be the real centre of the liturgy. In the process, the Christian meaning of death can be obscured. Non-Catholics often remarked on the beauty of the Catholic funeral, and how it lifted them into another realm. And, they were right! The Mass of Christian Burial, emphasising mercy, compassion and forgiveness stands alone. It does not need to be augmented or enhanced by speeches in praise of a human person. I don't doubt that I will be criticised for saying these words, but the criticism reveals how some Catholics have ceased to understand fully the Mass, or the Christian teaching about salvation, where the funeral is no longer a Divine Mystery, but merely a ceremony to remember the deceased and help the living cope with their loss. More disquieting is the distortion of the Christian basis of our hope. People's sensibilities have subtly changed from hope that a merciful God will grant salvation into a presumptuous certainty. Eulogists dare not hint that the dearly departed is not in heaven, and the result can be that it stops people praying for the dead, which used to be our solemn duty. What I have said does not stop something being said about the life of the deceased, e.g., their love and devotion to family, their fidelity as a friend, their acts of charity and kindness, their goodness and example. But these words are not a canonisation ceremony. We all make mistakes, we are all sinners, we need forgiveness. God has given us the assurance that if we pray for the dead that the sins they have committed in this life will be forgiven and that soon they will enjoy the eternal rest of heaven with all the friends of God. Apart from the funeral Mass the Church does provide opportunity for words to be said about the deceased. That is at the vigil for the deceased or the wake, as it is popularly called, and is the important first part of the Church's funeral rites. It is most fitting for the priest, the deacon or the leader of prayer to be present for the first gathering in the presence of the body of the deceased. The wake is the appropriate time for members of the family and friends to share memories of the deceased or to pay tribute to the deceased. It is the appropriate time for the giving of a eulogy or eulogies. It is also the appropriate time to recall those things that were dear to the deceased, with photographs, symbols and the singing of favourite songs.

July 2006

Questions Bishops are asked

By Bishop Kevin Manning, Catholic Outlook, July 2006

Question
Last week I attended a funeral where there were three eulogies. I thought this somewhat excessive, which leads me to ask: what place has the eulogy at a funeral?

Answer
You touch on a rather vexed topic here, one where misunderstandings and misinterpretations abound, leading, more often than not, to liturgical abuses.

First of all, we need to understand the function of a eulogy and the purpose of the whole funeral liturgy.

Originally, a eulogy was an oral or written piece in praise of someone who could be dead but, more often, was alive. Frequently, the eulogy was in praise of the person who commissioned it. So there was an understandable tendency towards flattery on the part of the eulogist.

Clearly, the main function of the eulogy is to praise a person. We have to ask ourselves: how does this fit with the purpose of the Christian funeral liturgy?

A funeral liturgy is a time when the community gathers, with the family and friends of the deceased, to give praise and thanks to God for Christ's victory over sin and death, to commend the deceased to God's tender mercy and compassion, and to seek strength and comfort for the mourners in the prayers and rites of the Church (OCF, 129).

It is an expression of our Catholic faith, in which we proclaim our hope in Christ, and gather in love for the deceased and the bereaved. You can appreciate that its purpose is not to celebrate the life of a person.

This is why the liturgical books state clearly that there should not be a eulogy of any kind, and emphasise the importance of the homily, which helps the members of the assembly to understand how God's love, and Jesus' victorious death and resurrection, were present in the life and death of the deceased, and are active in their own lives as well.

Through the homily, members of the family and the community should receive consolation and strength to face the death of one of their members with a hope nourished by the Saving Word of God (GIRM 338; OCF 27).

That said, there is a provision at the Vigil, and at the funeral liturgy itself, for someone to speak in remembrance of the deceased before the Concluding Rite.

But the words have an entirely different function from a eulogy understood as a speech of praise. The mood they strike needs to be in keeping with the purposes of the funeral liturgy as described above.

Unfortunately, nowadays, a proliferation of eulogies detracts from the Mass, or funeral service, and are seen by many to be the real centre of the liturgy.

In the process, the Christian meaning of death can be obscured. Non-Catholics often remarked on the beauty of the Catholic funeral, and how it lifted them into another realm. And, they were right!

The Mass of Christian Burial, emphasising mercy, compassion and forgiveness stands alone. It does not need to be augmented or enhanced by speeches in praise of a human person.

I don't doubt that I will be criticised for saying these words, but the criticism reveals how some Catholics have ceased to understand fully the Mass, or the Christian teaching about salvation, where the funeral is no longer a Divine Mystery, but merely a ceremony to remember the deceased and help the living cope with their loss.

More disquieting is the distortion of the Christian basis of our hope. People's sensibilities have subtly changed from hope that a merciful God will grant salvation into a presumptuous certainty.

Eulogists dare not hint that the dearly departed is not in heaven, and the result can be that it stops people praying for the dead, which used to be our solemn duty.

What I have said does not stop something being said about the life of the deceased, e.g., their love and devotion to family, their fidelity as a friend, their acts of charity and kindness, their goodness and example. But these words are not a canonisation ceremony.

We all make mistakes, we are all sinners, we need forgiveness. God has given us the assurance that if we pray for the dead that the sins they have committed in this life will be forgiven and that soon they will enjoy the eternal rest of heaven with all the friends of God.

Apart from the funeral Mass the Church does provide opportunity for words to be said about the deceased.

That is at the vigil for the deceased or the wake, as it is popularly called, and is the important first part of the Church's funeral rites.

It is most fitting for the priest, the deacon or the leader of prayer to be present for the first gathering in the presence of the body of the deceased.

The wake is the appropriate time for members of the family and friends to share memories of the deceased or to pay tribute to the deceased.

It is the appropriate time for the giving of a eulogy or eulogies. It is also the appropriate time to recall those things that were dear to the deceased, with photographs, symbols and the singing of favourite songs.