NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Roman Catholic Archbishop John J. Myers has barred friends and relatives from delivering funeral eulogies, saying the tributes "are getting out of hand" and can distract from the purpose of the funeral Mass.
In a directive sent to Newark Archdiocese priests last week, Myers said clerics could still talk about the deceased during the funeral Mass homily.
But any tributes from families and friends should be read before or after the Mass, preferably in a side chapel or at graveside, and should be delivered by one person.
"We have been getting more and more requests for eulogies, and this is not something that has been traditionally a part of Catholic funeral rites," Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the archdiocese, told The Record of Bergen County for Wednesday's editions.