The Catholic Archbishop of Freetown says it is unacceptable to engage in post-communion fund-raising activities “that go on for an unduly long time than is prescribed by the liturgical norms.”
In a letter to Priests in charge of Catholic Communities and Chaplains, Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles has urged them to stop fundraising activities like “pin a friend, person of the year competitions accompanied by collections and unveiling with collection”, describing them as an “abuse of the mass”.
The outspoken Archbishop said “we have imported those practices from elsewhere and introduced them into the celebration of the mass, especially at annual thanksgiving celebrations, without proper reflection on their effects on the Eucharist or authorization by the diocesan authorities.”
He said the church was not against fundraising activities, the proceeds of which are used to support development projects which is why the “Catholic Church in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in West Africa, allowed a second collection to be lifted for specific purposes like rehabilitation projects and response to some emergency appeal for help.”
He said many parishioners normally leave the church during such long fundraising activities “without waiting for the rite of dismissal, which has its own liturgical significance of solemnly commissioning the people to go and live the word of God that they heard during the mass”.
He described it as a “gross obedience to the church and a disservice to the priesthood if a priest condones malpractices during the mass that he is celebrating or a mass celebrated under his pastoral leadership”.
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