A parish priest in Donegal has said he will go ahead with a First Holy Communion ceremony this week despite the current public health guidelines.
Fr John Joe Duffy of St Michael’s Church in Creeslough said the government's advice on the postponement of Communions and Confirmations "doesn't make any sense."
Speaking on RTE’s Brendan O’Connor show, Fr Duffy said, “I think what’s being imposed on these children and on the church is disproportionate, unfair and unreasonable in the context of the overall reality.
He said the 18 children due to receive their Communion have already been mixing, so holding the ceremony will not contribute to the spread of Covid in the community.
He said, “No, I don’t hold that theory at all that Communions and Confirmations will contribute to higher numbers.
“We are in the area where the numbers have been consistently low – below the national average.”
Fr Duffy said that the children have been playing together in school and are due to return to school together in a few weeks.
He said, “They are playing sport in a field that is about 100 metres from the church, which is a great thing.
“They are already mixing through sport. They have contact sport.”
“They're playing. They're interacting. Their parents are going along to support them, so it's the same cohort of people coming into the church.”
The priest said to allow some ceremonies to go ahead and not others was completely ‘illogical’.
"These children are already sitting in the church looking up at me and under government guidelines I can't give them holy communion.
"Yet I can have a 100 people in the church for a wedding, 50 people in the church for a funeral - people who are coming from all areas and parts, whereas children who are coming for Holy Communion and children for Confirmation are already mixing within sights of the church.
"They're already in the church and it just doesn't make sense."
Fr Duffy has been supported by parents from local schools, including those in Scoil Mhuire National School and Glassan National School.
