Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

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   The defence of a Christian view never seems to be settled by debate: exchange of facts, reference to historical events.…

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   But …… Rwanda is a safe place: Parliament says so.https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/8/contentsSafety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 S 2 Safety…

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   Religion can survive only on the most unquestionable assumptions. The statements made on Sundays on the BBC as if they…

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   Yes, if I’ve got anything remotely like a phobia, as an ex-fundy, its bibles, churches, tracts etc. I like to…

A RAUCUOUS version of the song, played after the Holy Communion at the MacGowan’s recent funeral in Northern Ireland at St. Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, County Tipperary, got set attendees clapping and some dancing in the aisles. 

But one Catholic priest—Paddy MacCafferty, parish priest in West Belfast— has labeled the funeral Mass for the Irish musician, who died aged 65 on November 30 after a long illness, a scandal.

The joyless MacCaffery, according to this report, huffed:

This is an abuse of the liturgy. It’s sacrilegious. A requiem Mass is not for the purpose they used it for. There needs to be something done about these so-called celebrity funerals in a Catholic church.

McCaffery was also outraged that MacGowan’s funeral featured a statue of Buddha, among other of his favourite objects,

Most of the music during the funeral Mass was non-religious. 

After communion, two singers and a band performed “Fairy Tale of New York,” that at one point depicts a heated argument between two lovers that includes vulgar words for a condom, a homosexual man, and a woman’s rear end, along with the word “slut” and a slang word for heroin. 

McCafferty insisted “Fairytale of New York” was not appropriate for the setting. 

It’s not a bad song. But it’s not a song to be sung after Holy Communion during the Mass. It’s a mockery. I don’t think everyone present meant to be mocking. But that’s how it came across. And it needs to stop.

The man was entitled to a requiem Mass. He was a practicing Catholic. He was a child of God. But that other stuff they brought into the Mass—that should have been at a secular venue, either later or at some other time. Don’t do it in the house of God.

MacGowan’s funeral Mass has drawn mostly praise from online commenters who watched a livestream version of it. 

Much of the reaction to Father McCafferty’s comments has been negative. 

“I know I’m going to get flack. I know I’m going to get ridiculed. And I have,” Father McCafferty said. “That’s a price I’m more than willing to pay.” 

Hat tip: BarrieJohn.

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