Pell Vs Jones

Not many could argue about Alan Jones’ ability to get things done. He has the power to get politicians off their backsides and address certain issues that his listeners have raised concerns about. Sometimes, however, I believe he becomes a stirrer just for the sake of dividing opinion.

One such incident occurred recently. Cardinal George Pell has drawn out some outlines for Catholic funeral services, such as: one eulogy no more than 5 minutes, no pre recorded music and no slide show presentations. To this Alan Jones stated that a funeral service should be done to the family’s wishes and that if these restrictions are in place no one will want to have funeral services in catholic churches.

I think Jones has missed the mark. Cardinal Pell is attempting to provide some structure to funeral services. Without structure these services can appear like parties with all the music, movies and slideshows. They can easily drag on if anyone and everyone wishes to speak about the deceased. Everyone can tell their stories, play music and show movies/slideshows elsewhere, possibly at the wake where the atmosphere is more relaxed and where people have the choice to participate.

Also, shouldn’t a Catholic family want to have a funeral service done in the Catholic way, whatever that might be at the time. I would expect that whenever we want anything done in a church (i.e. wedding, christening, funeral) that the minister is first approached and he (or she) will tell how it is done at this church. Some may show a bit of flexibility from that point and accommodate certain requests some may be stricter on the details, but there is still a basic structure to work from.

Without a basic structure to work from these services would be a free for all and could turn out a shambles, which is definitely not what the family would want.