Priest: Communion must not become 'an orgy of materialism'

Parents must not reduce their child’s First Holy Communion to “an orgy of materialism with miniature brides”.

Fr Paddy O’Kane, who is a parish priest in Derry City, said many children did not return to Mass after receiving the sacrament, thus too often making their First Communion their last.

Fr O’Kane, who has just returned to Ballymagroarty parish after a five-month pastoral sabbatical in the US, said parents opted into the childhood sacrament for a variety of reasons.