ARE funeral rites still meaningful in modern secular society?
Liturgy expert Fr Paul Turner hopes to address this question in an online lecture at the Australian Catholic University on July 18.
Fr Turner said the purpose of funerals had slowly shifted from the traditional Catholic concepts of mourning and intercession to “a celebration of life”.
“Some people abbreviate the three stages of the funeral liturgy (vigil, Mass and interment), some choose cremation over burial, some delay the funeral for weeks until family members can be present,” he said.
“Still, some prefer to read lengthy remembrances to those who have gathered, while others do not have a public gathering at all.
“All this has happened even though the Catholic funeral liturgy has not significantly changed since the late 1980s.
“Our liturgical books are the same, but our celebration of funerals has changed.”
For Fr Turner, this cultural shift raises many questions about the Catholic Church’s teachings on death compared to society’s perception of it.
“Do these messages support one another, or do they conflict?” he said.
ACU Centre for Liturgy director Professor Clare Johnson said funerals were something “all of us will have to deal with one way or another eventually”.
She said Fr Turner’s insights surrounding funerals would be helpful for Catholics entering conversations about death, especially when facing the death of a loved one.
“When faced with so many options, people often freeze and don’t know what to choose, which is where clergy, funeral directors and others can have a powerful pastoral influence,” she said.
“The Catholic approach to funerals needs to be one people know about, trust and can embrace, and we trust that the formation initiatives we’re engaging in will help to spread the right information to those who need it.”
Fr Turner is a priest at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, and is director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph.
He also serves as a facilitator for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy and has published several books including a 2017 treatise on preparing better Catholic funerals.
For more details on Fr Turner’s presentation visit https://www.acu.edu.au/about-acu/institutes-academies-and-centres/acu-centre-for-liturgy/news-events-and-resources
