Cork Fine Gael junior minister Colm Burke refused Communion at funeral mass 

The Fine Gael junior minister and Cork North Central TD, Colm Burke, has spoken about an incident in which he was refused Holy Communion and was told he was excommunicated while attending the funeral mass of a long-time party supporter in Whitechurch on Friday.

It is understood that the decision was taken by the priest involved to refuse Holy Communion because Mr Burke had voted in favour of the repeal of the Eight Amendment which had prohibited the introduction of abortion in Ireland before the 2018 referendum.

In a statement to The Echo, Mr Burke said he had ‘recently attended a funeral mass of a person I knew for over 35 years’ and described the deceased as a ‘longstanding member of Fine Gael and party supporter’.

Incident

“An incident occurred during the ceremony involving Fr [Gabriel] Burke where he refused to give to me Holy Communion,” said Mr Burke in his statement.

“He further advised that you have been excommunicated,” said Mr. Burke, who then added that he had been in touch with the Cloyne Diocescan Office and intended writing to the Bishop of Cloyne, William Crean seeking clarification as to his status in attending further church ceremonies in the Diocese.

The minister told The Echo that it was important to remember that there was a family grieving a loved one at the funeral he had been attending when the incident occurred.

“The incident that occurred must not deflect from the purpose of the funeral mass to support the family of the person who died, to celebrate the person’s achievements and the valuable contribution he made to both his immediate family and the wider local community of Whitechurch throughout his life,” Mr Burke said.

Contacted

Cloyne Diocescan spokesman, Reverend James Moore, told The Echo his office had been contacted by the minister regarding the incident and that Bishop Crean would be contacting Mr Burke to discuss the details of what had occurred.

Rev Moore described excommunication as a ‘call to repentance’ for what he described as ‘serious offences, a Canonical penalty’. He said that excommunication could take effect by virtue of the act done or ‘Latae Sententiae’ and suggested this could be for acts such as a doctor carrying out an abortion, issuing a threat to kill the Pope or desecration of the Eucharist.

Attempts were made to contact Fr Burke, who is the curate in Whitechurch, about the incident but were unsuccessful.

In a statement reported in The Irish Times, Fr Burke said that the minister, while serving in Seanad Éireann, had voted for abortion after the 2018 referendum. 

The priest said that the teaching of the Church was that any politician who voted for abortion could not receive Communion and added that the Primate of All-Ireland, Archbishiop Eamon Martin had made that very clear before the vote on abortion.