High Court Statement – Fr Kevin Reynolds

Brendan Hoban, writing in the Western People, takes issue with those who would ‘adjudicate infallibly’ on who was catholic enough to have identified themselves as catholic in the recent census.
‘Usually this rigid definition of what constitutes a Catholic … comes not from agnostic or atheistic sources but from very conservative, ultra-traditional Catholics who are impatient with what they regard as any perceived diminution in Catholicism. Usually liberal media .. tend to be more amenable to those who fail to reach the ideal, apart obviously from Catholics, for whom a new and worrying intolerance is developing.’

Brendan Hoban, in the Western People, gives his thoughts on a very topical subject at present; should the church ever refuse a funeral Mass?
Brendan says “One of the most difficult truths of the Christian faith is that no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy. No one. This is easy to understand in theory but a difficult concept to accept in practice.”
“So whether it’s the funeral of an IRA bomber during the troubles in the North or a priest pedophile buried in the dead of night or gangsters who have brought incredible suffering to countless individuals and families, that one truth applies to everyone. None of them is beyond the extended reach of God’s love and moderating that reach is not an option for a Christian church.
Jesus Christ expressed that truth clearly in just two words in Luke 6:37, ‘Judge not’ “.