I spoke to a very helpful civil servant today in the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs regarding the criminalisation of those who sell Mass cards without the permission of a Catholic bishop.
No commencement orders have yet been made and I am informed that because the Charities Act, 2009 involves the setting up of a new regulatory body it could take between two and three years before it is fully implemented.
The good news is that the particular section dealing with Mass cards could be law within two or three months. I will then be in a position to re-apply to the Bishop of Cloyne for permission to sell Mass cards.
You may now apply for permission to sell mass cards. See Irish Examiner today June 29, 2009. http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/laws-banning-sale-of-pre-signed-mass-cards-come-into-effect-97554.html
Will you be saying the masses yourself ?
Is this not a case of the state legislating with regard to superstition?
Probably not something unusual in Ireland, but it is the 21st century now after all, not 1957.
Anyway, if you were to become an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, (and anyone can do it), would you be then able to sell these things under law, or is it restricted to Catholics?