I am a Catholic, and I didn’t know.
I didn’t know that the Catholic Church bars the draping of coffins with the American flag during funeral ceremonies in the church—even if the coffin contains the remains of a fallen military hero.
I imagine that this “policy” applies to all national flags, because in an article in the Times Union of Albany, N. Y., quoting Ken Goldfarb, spokesman for the Albany Catholic Diocese, I read:
Catholic funerals throughout the world follow a universal order…Only Christian symbols may rest on or be placed near the coffin during the funeral liturgy. Any other symbols, for example, national flags or flags or insignias of associations, have no place in the funeral liturgy.
The article recalls the funeral service of military veteran George Moll, back in March, 2007, at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Stillwater, New York.
The 75-year old George Moll, who had served in the Navy aboard the USS Allagash during the Korean War, had been a lifelong parishioner at the church. A church that had previously allowed American flags to drape coffins in the entryway of the church before replacing them with cloth coverings known as palls.
However, when Moll’s flag-draped coffin arrived at the church for the services, the new parish administrator at the time, the Rev. James Kane, strictly enforced the rules.
After the service, Moll’s casket left the church without an American flag around it. His wife, Florence Moll said. “They had to put the flag on in the freezing cold near the hearse…I thought it was a problem, and I was really disgusted.”
Some may say, what’s the big deal? To the bereaved widow, this apparently was a big deal.
And it appears to be a big deal to some other parishioners, too.
Apparently, this issue has followed Kane to neighboring Mechanicville, N.Y., where he was recently assigned to The Church of St. Peter the Apostle and Assumption/St. Paul.
Mechanicville is very close to the Saratoga National Cemetery in Stillwater, and, according to the Times Union, it has a large population of veterans who are Catholic: “Residents say coffins with American flags were permitted to enter and depart the church’s vestibule in the past, and the change is emblematic of Kane’s inflexible style of leadership.”
The Times Union quotes Mary Lou Anatriello, a lifelong church member “who buried her parents at St. Paul’s”:
The flag is the symbol of the freedom we fight for. This type of demand is hurtful….There are young men and women currently fighting for our freedom so we can worship as we please…This is not going to bring people into the church. It’s going to push them away because people feel so strongly about the American flag.
I have been in and around the military for most of my adult life, and I don’t remember this ever being an issue. I am quite sure that I have seen American-flag-draped coffins of military dead in Catholic churches.
I even searched the internet, and almost immediately came across the following item in the October 26, 2006, issue of the Evansville Courier & Press:
Fallen Marine remembered: Services for Sgt. Brock Babb
The church doors swung open, and all eyes shifted to a bare gurney in the lobby.
Seconds later, eight Marines entered St. Boniface Catholic Church, carrying a flag-draped casket with the remains of Sgt. Brock Babb. They placed the coffin on the gurney and wheeled it down a long aisle, stopping near an empty row of pews reserved for family and fellow Marines.
A little farther down: “Babb’s uncle, Randy Babb, gave a short speech and then returned to his seat. He stopped at the coffin and extended his hand, gently patting the American flag hanging over it.”
(Marine Sgt. Brock A. Babb, 40, of Evansville, Ind., died Oct. 15, 2006, while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Babb was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division, Terre Haute, Ind.)
As I mentioned, I am a Catholic. But, I guess, I am not that good of a Catholic to fully understand this inflexibility on the part of the Catholic Church—or, at least, on the part of the U.S. Catholic Church.
Just a personal opinion. What is yours?
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.