They say the Church is on the fade in Ireland. An interesting story from the Kerryman site. John Monaghan of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, concerned about First Communion spending gone wild:
Our recommendation is to put a little sanity back into it, we need some sense. It was never right. It was never justified. It is taking away from the sacrament and focusing on the showbusiness. There are a lot of families who cannot afford to do this.
Parents outdoing parents: it’s an age-old phenomenon, ever since the Sarah versus Hagar smackdown. How much is too much?
A survey of First Communion habits found spending on the day down 17%, from 1,165 euro to 967 euro over the past two years, while the amount of cash youngsters collected was down 18%, from 574 euro over the same period.
Is it the world’s Depression? Or embittered Catholics giving up on the Church?
Catholic Sensibility 