Most preachers, reverends, pastors, and priests try to comfort people in their times of grief. They provide you with a shoulder to cry on, they offer you a person to lean on, and they give you an ear to listen. However, Cardinal George Pell doesn't give you his ear. He loans it to you.

  Cardinal Pell, Australia's most senior Catholic, would like to implement restrictions on eulogies. According to the Cardinal, all eulogies should be between 3 and 5 minutes long and should not mention anything having to do with sex or drinking. Cardinal Pell claims that long or inappropriate eulogies embarrass the priest presiding over the service and take the spotlight away from the point the Church is trying to get across during the service. With the Catholic Church banning people from eulogizing the deceased at funeral masses in Ireland and certain parts of the United States, it doesn't seem like much to ask.

 

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However, a eulogy is supposed to be a way for someone close to the deceased to remember their loved one's life and say goodbye. It is supposed to serve as a way to help the mourning process, and to celebrate a life that has been tragically ended. A eulogy also has personal and significant meaning to the person giving it. By prohibiting people from giving eulogies, or giving guidelines as to what aspects of a person's life can be discussed, the church is missing the whole point of having a funeral.

  It’s a funeral, not the Grammys. You can’t cue the music when the bereaved start to run on too long for your liking. Editing the eulogies of family and friends should not be one of the Church's main priorities during someone’s time of need. It makes it seem as if the Church cares more about its own comfort level than it does about the people who are experiencing a time of loss. It may also be interpreted as putting a time limit on the grieving process.

This decision brings up the old argument about the separation of church and state, attacks the right to free speech, and makes one wonder just how involved the church should be in a person’s everyday life.

The restrictions Cardinal Pell is placing on eulogies in Australia could have a major impact on the way people view the Catholic Church, which is already involved in more than enough scandals, and it could also serve to turn people away. It not only attacks the right to free speech, but it also begs the question, “How much control is too much for a religious figure to have?”

  With certain churches using their authority to influence their congregations to vote for the reverend’s chosen politicians, and now with the Catholic Church limiting and editing eulogies, it seems that they have as much control as you allow them to.

   Until people begin to set boundaries for their respective churches, they will continue to be pushed. Unless people stop fearing the church and start to ask why certain rules exist, religious influence will continue to be used and abused.

The power that the church wields over a congregation should not be exercised on a whim. Before calling for all people of any denomination to do anything, some thought as to how it will affect the people - not how it will affect the presiding priest - should be given.

Tell us what you think. Write Spectrum at editor@mcckc.edu.

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