Italian priest seeks to fill funerals

AREZZO, Italy, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- An Italian priest is pleading with churchgoers to help fill the pews at poorly attended funerals.

The Rev. Marcello Colcelli wrote to members of his Arezzo church asking them to join his "Company of the Departed" to fill seats at funerals that are often poorly attended or even completely empty, ANSA reported Thursday.

Colcelli wrote he has encountered many services attended "only by a few relatives and acquaintances," and sometimes he found himself alone with the deceased.

"I often have to do everything on my own: the readings, the rites, even the mourning," Colcetti wrote in the letter, which was printed in the La Nazione daily. "I could carry on like this but I ask myself: Where's the community?"

The cleric said he is drafting a document for possible members of the Company of the Departed, including "an obligation (when possible) to take part in funerals, guaranteeing a minimum funeral service including readings, offerings and incense."