The Church's attack on village feasts

The Church document on village feasts is worrying on many levels, not least the lack of insight shown into the nature of these celebrations.

The first and most dangerous aspect of the document is that the Catholic Church still believes it has the right to determine what is right and wrong outside its remit as a religious institution. Whereas I willingly concur with the Church that some people's behaviour during festa time is not concurrent with Christian doctrine, it is not up to the Church to decide whether such behaviour is acceptable or not. We have a judiciary system for a purpose, and the Church should in no way interfere with what happens outside its walls.

Some may argue that the festa is a religious celebration. Once again, this assumption is totally misguided; the festa is first and foremost a communal cultural phenomenon of which the religious aspect is a small part. If we had to really go by the book, then nothing in the traditional festa qualifies as "religious". None of its manifestations have any basis in liturgical or biblical sources. All the pyrotechnics, band marches, street decorations et al are a product of diverse influences that are particular to time and space. By attempting to change that fabric, the Church is destroying centuries of cultural formation.

Am I suggesting that the festa should be allowed to descend into an orgy of excess? Definitely not, but the limits are those set within the legal system, and not at the whim of the Curia. If there is violent behaviour, it is to be curtailed on the grounds that it is illegal not on the grounds that it is immoral.

Furthermore, it astounds me that the Church should be concerned at village rivalries when very often it is members of the Diocese themselves who fire such arguments. We have witnessed several letters, including in this newspaper, from members of the clergy extolling the virtue of a saint at the expense of another.

If the Curia thinks that the village feast is an excuse for drunken behaviour and violence, then it must be either short-sighted or completely blind. Those who want to get drunk will not wait until the festa to do so, nor will those who have a personal grievance against someone. What happens is they find the festa a good excuse to get even, and such behaviour is to be controlled according to criminal law.

Ultimately, such individuals form only a small part of the festa community. The majority of those who go to the band marches do not behave in such a manner, and when they do get slightly out of hand the police force is always ready to control the situation. I fully agree that excessive behaviour should lead to cancellations of a feast, as has been the case in the past, but to attempt such an attack on the nature of the festa will only increase the people's alienation and dismay with the Church.

It is not the festa which is the cause of the decline of Church attendances, or the general apathy towards religion, it is the Church's attitude which is completely out of touch with issues far more serious than band marches or fireworks.