Tyrone priest criticises First Communion fashion magazine

A County Tyrone priest has slammed a magazine encouraging parents to splash out on their children’s First Holy Communion.
Fr Declan Boland said the targeting of parents by Your Child's First Holy Communion which shows young girls modelling the latest in Communion wear has "inappropriate".

The magazine, which is a spin-off of the highly successful wedding magazine Irish Wedding Diary. carries advertisements for tiaras, fashion accessories and portrait photographers.

Fr Boland said it was time parents changed their focus to the spiritual dimension of their children getting their First Communion and took an approach of “moderation and sensibility” to the occasion.

"The Church and schools try and down play the whole issue of clothing, parties and whatever gifts the children get for their Holy Communion,” he remarked.

But he said it “can be a struggle” because parents get “caught up in the external things”.

“But if this magazine is out there now, I feel we are in danger of losing sight of what we are about and the true meaning of Holy Communion, which is receiving the body of Christ for the first time,” Fr Boland remarked. [CIN]