Friday 21 August 2015

Cilla Black's Funeral. R.I.P

Ever since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, I have had requests to have pop songs played at funeral Masses, from ‘My Way’(Sinatra), through ‘Fields of Gold’(Cassidy) and ‘Someday, We’ll be together’(Supremes) to ‘Another one bites the Dust’(Queen). I have been asked to replace the Word of God with the words of man (‘Footprints’ or ‘Death is nothing at all’). Explaining that I am bound by the liturgical books to use the Word of God in the worship of God, and that just as we don’t sing hymns in the pub we don’t sing pop songs in Church, is usually met with “Well, they did it in Saint N’s at a friend’s funeral” leaves me less than happy with my brother priests, who thus make me appear uncaring, un-pastoral and inconsiderate as they turn the liturgy into a Service Of Remembrance of the deceased. I am now likely to be told, "Well, they did it at Cilla Black's funeral". 

We have nothing for which to thank the clergy for who celebrated Cilla's funeral. What are priests doing, ditching the word of God in favour of the word of man, and playing pop songs instead of singing the liturgy itself? They may think they are being pastoral but they are not: they are setting themselves up over-and-above the authority of Rome and Tradition to people-please. They will be loved by the people of course, and it is perhaps not wanting to upset the folk that keeps them from celebrating Holy Mass according to the liturgical books. But this comes at a great cost at any funeral: clergy taking lordship over the liturgy may at the very least be an occasion of missed opportunity for grace or an actual diminishing grace in their own souls, while mourners may have missed an opportunity for grace or been diminished in grace by clergy facilitating not the worship and petitioning of God but the adulation of their loved one. Meanwhile the deceased is denied proper intercession for the repose of their soul. An overview of the how the prayer for Cilla’s soul went can be found at Torch of the Faith.

Cilla may well have been a great celebrity in this life, celebrated by other celebrities now her life on earth has ended, and we make no judgment about anyone's sincerity, only about the inappropriateness of what went on at her funeral as permitted by the clergy. This lady deserved better from the Church, upon which we rely for intercession, not adulation. A correctly celebrated Requiem is what ‘our Cilla’ needed, followed at a later date with a memorial service where all sorts of readings, pop songs and eulogies could have been utilised. The Holy Sacrifice for the repose of her soul was not the place for this. I'm sure all went as Cilla's family hoped as their loving tribute to her, and who can blame them for seeking what they felt was the best? They took her to the very Church in which their parents were married and to the Faith in which she was raised. And I can understand the clergy wishing to accommodate her sons' needs, but why didn't those clergy offer two services: the Mass, and a memorial at a later date? This would have safeguarded both the integrity of the liturgy and taken full account of the needs of Cilla's family (needs which ought not be dismissed).

Still, whoever approved the Order of Service for Cilla’s funeral (God rest her soul) should have kept it in conformity with the liturgical books, particularly since Cilla was such a well-known lady and her funeral attended by the media. There was an opportunity here to publicly show how well the Church prays for her children at their death rather than demonstrate how far her children have come in celebrating themselves and one another. Our bishops must issue a reminder to all clergy –themselves and the presbyters- that funerals are not a celebration of the deceased, but the opportunity to beg God’s mercy for the response of the deceased’s soul. Cilla has been deprived of the fullness of the Church’s intercession and given a send-off loosely based on the order of Christian Funerals. I do hope those who arranged and presided at the funeral of this much-loved lady have had second thoughts about it, and determined not to engage in such antics again. 

21 comments:

  1. It makes it much harder to tell people that we are obliged to follow the church's liturgy when bishops, who should be our standard-bearers and standard setters, preside at this sort of liturgical shambles.

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    1. On the same day I celebrated the packed funeral of a faithful and devoted young family man in the parish I serve. The faithfulness and prayerfulness of his family and friends along with beauty of following the church's liturgy was overwhelmingly perfect in a way seldom experienced. Seeing highlights of Cilla's funeral led me to reflect on the contrast between the two - the first exactly what it should be, the second quite the opposite. Many parishioners have made the same observation in conversation in this large, ordinary suburban parish. I was particularly saddened by the bishop's mocking of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the secular music and the distribution of Holy Communion to lapsed and non-Catholics. The parish, incidentally, is in the care of the Redemptorist's of Bishop Eaton, not a community known for faithfulness to the Church. Feeling let down again by the diocese in which I was born and to which I would like to return, I thank God that I am elsewhere and remain unsurprised by the catastrophic decline of the Church in a city which remains, at least nominally, over 40% Catholic.

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  2. How old-fashioned you are, Father! But how very accurate and correct, from that which I could bear to watch, your observations are.

    Keep up the good work.

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  3. Thanks Father, fully agree with everything you have said.

    Cliff Richards singing to replace the Penitential Rite - the irony!

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  4. Thank you Fr for defending truth, good taste and common sense in the face of this onslaught of tacky modernist irreverence! Let us all pray for the priests who allow this, that they may seek to truly serve Jesus rather than entertain their congregations.

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  5. Father,
    My mind was taken back some 18 months to mywife's Requiem at Sacred Heart, Byermoor. She chose the hymns:"Bring Flowers of the rarest.." at the Offertory, "To Jesus' Heart all Burning..." at Communion, and the Recessional "Faith of our Fathers..." Our daughter played Prelude in G Minor by Bach as the coffin was brought in, and the !st movement of Elgar's Cello Concerto arranged for the organ as my wife was carried form the church. At the Crematorium, she was carried in to "In Paradisum" on cd by the monks of Heiligencruz Abbey, and at the end, as we all departed, after the ceremonies, "Who wants to live Forever" by Queen.
    Frs Brown, James and Colahan concelebrated the Mass, assisted by Rev Deacon Chris Callan.
    It was a moving and deeply spiritual occasion, much appreciated by froends and family, not all of whom were Catholic.
    But it just demonstartes how the correct use of the Church's rituals brings home the undoubted truth of our belief in God.
    I watched Cilla's Requiem, and was very disappointed in the way the Church seemed to surrender everything to the needs of celebrities, and how the inappropriate clapping and laughter turned the Requiem Mass into a show-biz event. I thought Paul O'Grady's contribution particularly offensive.
    Cliff Richard's "song" was quite moving, and spiritual, but in the wrong place in the Mass.
    Thank you Father for your comments.

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  6. Yes, indeed. The funeral was truly shocking. And to have several priests and a bishop present and appearing to approve it gave such a bad impression. How much harm was done by this funeral which was not only widely reported but even broadcast live.

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  7. And a Cilla Black pop song playing during Communion. Kyrie eleison.

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  8. I expect the bishop would argue that he was showing 'mercy' by presiding over this all-are-welcome travesty of a Requiem Mass. I'm more inclined to the view that he couldn't resist his few minutes in the spotlight on national TV among second-rate celebrities. I'm afraid his leading role in this non-liturgical farrago has shown him up to be a vain and shallow man. He is in great need of our prayers, as is the soul of Cilla Black, RIP.

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  9. I found it surprising that one of Archbishop Malcolm McMahon's assistant bishops was allowed to celebrate the Requiem in this way. To my recollection Archbishop Malcolm has never been a 'happy-clappy'. Perhaps Genty is right about His Lordship's mindset.

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  10. Many of the replies here show a distinct lack of charity.

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    1. Joseph Bracewell23 August 2015 at 12:43

      Strange how we perceive things differently James. To me the replies here seem full of sadness for a lost opportunity to show the world Holy Mother Church at her very best I.E. receiving the bodily remains of one of her children with great dignity and consoling her loved ones with prayers for her soul. Joseph.

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  11. There are now Catholics who have experienced no other type of funeral Mass than the messes of today and so they naturally think that the pop songs, the videos, the eulogies in the church etc are the way it is supposed to be done. Those who know and who remember Requiem Masses are old and won't be around for much longer and so one more piece of authentic Catholicism is chipped off the Church.

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  12. James

    You're confusing "being nice" with charity; it's a common affliction. True charity at a funeral Mass means praying for a person's soul, not telling funny stories and singing banal songs. The "service" was so tacky and disrespectful that I was living in dread that they were going to sing "Surprise Surprise". I hope that the clergy responsible for this atrocious example of unbelief are given the grace of repentance before they too must meet their Maker.

    Patricia

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  13. It was truly horrifying. Almost every Catholic is canonised at their funeral but in the case of 'stars', including Jimmy Savile, the bishops seem to take especial care that this is so. It is an outrage that the liturgy was deformed to pander to her friends, family and the TV audience. Couldn't someone have taken the time to explain Church teaching to them? Some might have actually believed it and profited from it.

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  14. Cliff Richard's words and song was quite clearly before the opening rites (eg the sign of the cross) therefore it didn't replace the penitential rite. It wasn't my cup of tea either but that's not an excuse for making inaccurate and misleading statements.

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  15. My own Parish Priest, not the most traditional man, was saying much the same thing last weekend.

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  16. Facts in the public realm:-

    1. Mr. Christopher Biggins is a public promoter of 'gay pride' and has contracted a 'civil partnership' with another man. He was publicly given Holy Communion.

    2. The Liverpolitanus Blog has exposed the fact that Mr. Paul O'Grady actually attended ''with his most recent boyfriend with whom he is in an openly same-sex partnership.'' Mr. O'Grady was publicly given Holy Communion by the bishop - followed by an affirming pat/grip of the arm in full view of the camera.

    3. The Liverpolitanus Blog has also drawn attention to the video of this liturgy from 1hr 46mins 36 secs. A man - Liverpolitanus describes him as brother of one of the most famous people on the planet - takes the Sacred Host from the priest, holds the Host in his left hand, crosses the line to have a drawn-out conversation with family members of the deceased, without consuming the Blessed Sacrament; and then passes beyond the range of the camera. It is not clear what happens to the Sacred Host after this.

    It seems that the response everywhere is muted.

    Reparation is needed.
    Please pray for the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
    In Christ
    Alan and Angeline

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  17. Funerals for so called 'celebrities' will inevitably attract much publicity. Let's face it, show business /entertainment industry is not known for it's sense of reverence. It is possible (as with weddings) to celebrate a 'Catholic' funeral rite without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If the family of the deceased request a 'Mass' it could take place at another time. The church ceremony for Ms Black seems to have been a memorial service, celebration of her life etc.which is probably what her family wanted.
    The presence of so many con-celebrating clergy only adds to the hype. One or two priests is sufficient when the congregation clearly has no understanding of the Church's liturgy.

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  18. "The popular folk religion of England is just pagan superstition and iconography of Christianity. It has no activist basis and no doctrinal content. Jesus, however, had very precise requirements for those who would follow him: they must make a decisive change in their beliefs (their moral behaviour) but also, and supremely, in their beliefs (their spiritual formation). What we tend to do is to fashion a religion for ourselves as individuals. What he demands of us is that we should surrender to his sovereignty."(Edward Norman, Out of the Depths, 2001:66).

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    1. Thank you, Tom, for a very apt quote.
      I would say there is no surrender to God's sovereignty even in our worship of Him these days. When celebrants choose to follow their own liturgical instincts rather than the liturgical norms they make themselves Lord of the Liturgy, rather Servants of God and Loyal Sons of Holy Mother Church.
      God Bless.

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