Father Flannery’s sister Geraldine died earlier this month.
He asked Michael Neary, the RC archbishop of Tuam for permission to celebrate the funeral and did not receive it.
So he celebrated the funeral in the sun room in Geraldine’s home.
It was recorded and placed on Youtube.
By all accounts, Geraldine was a wonderful, open and positive person. She entered a convent as a young woman, became a teacher and later left the convent to be a practitioner of Chinese Medicine in Tuam.
I was very impressed and touched by Father Tony’s celebration of the Funeral Mass and homily.
WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?
Would Jesus have refused to allow Father Tony to celebrate the Funeral Mass.
Absolutely not.
The decision not to allow him to celebrate the funeral was un-Christ-like and unChristian.
It’s what happens when people put man-made canon law before the teachings of Jesus.
MY NEPHEW’S FUNERAL:
Tragically, my nephew took his own life in 1997.
I was refused the use of a Catholic Church in Dublin by Desmond Connell – even though it was 1997 and I was not a bishop and not “excommunicated”.
Thankfully the wonderful Christians at Dublin’s Unitarian Church came to my aid and we had the funeral there.
When a family has a priest member it is very important to the grieving family that their family priest celebrates the funeral.
Over the last 35 years I have found many ways and buildings to celebrate marriages, finerals and baptisms – the churches of other denominations, hotels, castles, the open air etc.
We need to tell these hierarchical and clerical bullies where to stuff themselves and their buildings 🐒
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BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY 