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Holy orders

And you think the Nigerian 419 scams are bad? The Kenyan Missionary Mass card scam is sweeping Mayo!

GARDAÍ in Mayo are poised to launch an investigation into an elaborate scam involving the sale of fraudulent Mass cards in shops across the county. It has been revealed that the pre-signed Mass cards, which are printed in the midlands and bear the signatures of missionary priests in the Third World, are currently on sale in shops in a number of towns, including Ballina, Castlebar and Ballyhaunis. - Mayo News

Those of you destined for eternal damnation might be wondering what exactly is a pre-signed Mass card, and why would you need one. The priest signs a card, stating that he will say a Mass in honour of someone. The concept fulfils a common custom of somebody requesting a Mass to be celebrated for someone - say a deceased relative, on the anniversary of their death. You could ask your local priest but he already has a pile of anniversaries in the parish to celebrate, and there are only so many Masses that can be got through in a year.

So why not get a missionary priest to celebrate the Mass ? He will be saying Mass every day anyway, and, more importantly, he could probably do with the money. You see, the custom is to 'throw a few pound in' with the card, so the Mass card custom is also a way of helping the various Missionary orders. When the priest visits Ireland (either to visit relatives, or to celebrate Mass as a visiting priest in a parish), he signs a stack of 'blank' cards, each of which, a bit like a bank note, promises the bearer that a Mass will be said for them. The whole things rests entirely on trust - you can buy the cards in shops, so you can only hope that the proprietor is passing on the money. As the Mayo News reports, the names of the priests on some of the cards are those of either missing or dead priests - which would make the cards truly miraculous. Another priest has been banned by his bishop from signing cards - presumably not for poor handwriting.

So if you bought a card from a chap who was doling out presigned cards from the back of a Hiace, dealing in 'cash only', don't expect divine intervention any time soon.

UPDATE: The Sunday Times have the story but it seems to be a rehash of the Mayo News story.

Posted by Monasette at September 2, 2003 10:34 PM | TrackBack