Monday, 10 November 2025:  Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has said that “death is not an end but a passage” as he presented his November Pastoral Letter, ‘Thinking about Dying, Death, and Prayer for the Dead’.

In his pastoral letter to support people in dealing with, and preparing for, death, including Church rites and services and the need to respect Catholic traditions, Bishop Leahy said that November is the time of year when people remember in a special way their loved-ones who have passed.

“November is the month we dedicate to praying for those who have died. It is a time for us to reconnect with the true meaning of death and, as Christians, what we know above all is that death is not an end but a passage. It is a return to the Father, who created us,” he said.

The Church, Bishop Leahy said, approaches death with both human tenderness and theological depth. “We grieve because love has been interrupted, yet we believe that in Christ, death has been transformed. Every funeral, therefore, is both a moment of sorrow and a proclamation of faith, a sacred encounter with the mystery of life eternal.

“The funeral rites of the Church are not simply ceremonies of farewell but acts of worship and prayer. They proclaim the saving power of Christ’s death and resurrection and commend the soul of the departed to God’s mercy.”

The Pastoral Letter explores areas such as facing death; judgement, purgatory, heaven and hell; preparing for a funeral; praying for the dead; burial or cremation; and bereavement support.

In recent years, however, Bishop Leahy said we have witnessed a drift in understanding of the sanctity of death, including how death is celebrated in the Catholic Church.

“In Ireland, in the Catholic Church, we do death particularly well. We know how family and friends bind in a circle of love, support and reverence. We mark passings very respectfully and with great love. We don’t place a straitjacket on how we mark death but there is a need also to remember the sanctity of death.

“In recent times there has been a drifting from certain Church norms around how we the funeral Mass and burials. For example, eulogies should not be mistaken for long homilies or memorial tributes that are out of tune with the ceremony, nor should we use secular songs that are not appropriate for the liturgy. Regarding cremations, ashes are not to be scattered.

“Though often well-intentioned, these choices risk obscuring the truth of the funeral Mass and burial. This is not to dismiss the personal expressions of grief and remembrance that accompany bereavement. The Church recognises and honours them but invites families to place such tributes where and how they belong.

“To uphold the Catholic Church traditions is not rigidity; it is reverence. It is our way of ensuring that, at every Christian funeral, we stand humbly before the mystery of death and affirm together the timeless hope of our faith.”

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