Financial assistance for children making their holy communion and confirmation is being reviewed, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said. That is the same Mr. Gilmore who closed the embassy to the Holy See
He said that 14,000 such payments were made last year at a cost of €3.4 million as part of “exceptional payments’’ made by the Department of Social Protection.
Mr Gilmore told the Dáil today that the guidelines had not been reviewed since 1995 and that Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton was changing them to reflect the current realities. “There are parts of the country where the application of the payments varies,’’ he added.
Mr Gilmore said it was Ms Burton’s view, which he shared, that over the years there had been lavish expenditure in some cases associated with communions and confirmations.
There will be a further post on this subject on Friday evening, D.v.
"Financial assistance for First Communicants"...?
ReplyDeleteWhat the...? Since when did anyone need 'financial assistance' for First Communion and Confirmation? It's not as if you have to 'pay' for them!
But I know what's going on here and it is a scandal. For years now families in Ireland (and elsewhere...) have made the reception of these Sacraments into a 'social occasion' with Limos and designer wear for the kids. So this appears to be an effort to let poor families 'keep up with the Joneses'. What a load of rubbish.
This is a religious occasion, people! It's not about designer dresses, tuxedos, Limos and expensive meals at the Country Club. Get back to basics! This isn't about impressing the neighbours, the gifts, the accoutrements as if it were a wedding (another subject, not unrelated...).
Where are your values, your faith, your sense of proportion? And who inveigled the Government into subsidizing this nonsense?
Traditionally First Communion was an occasion for a new simple white dress and veil for a girl and a new suit or blazer for a boy. Most people still observe that simple way. A predominantly Catholic nation, culturally, saw it as part of its civic and Christian duty to provide those basics for poorer children on their special day.
ReplyDeleteThe elaborate get-ups that one reads of nowadays are the exception...otherwise they would not be newsworthy!