Standing order donations for Holy Family Church '˜not a new system'

Indeed, last weekend Mass goers at the Holy Family parish were given the choice of collecting a Standing Order form on their way out of the church, in a move which hopes to modernise the weekly collections within the parish.

However, Ballymagroarty’s long standing Administrator, Fr. Paddy O’Kane, has assured the ‘Journal’ that cash collections during weekend Masses would continue through the traditional basket collections.

When contacted yesterday in relation to the changes, Fr. Paddy commented: “We had a talk with our accountants in relation to the parish finances and were told we were out of step with other local churches.”

Fr. Paddy added that the practice of donating to the church through a bank Standing Order was not a new phenomen.

“We in the Holy Family Parish are not the first to provide the option of Standing Order donations,” he noted.

“This system has been operating for quite some time in other parishes throughout the diocese and we are simply bringing ourselves up to speed,” he maintained.

The popular local priest also held the view that that the benefits of the Standing Order transaction made the donation process much easier and more attractive to members of his congregation.

Fr. Paddy concluded: “We are simply giving people another option when making donations to the church.

“Not everyone has a bank account and the traditional collection baskets will still be available during Mass times.

“Our parishioners are under no obligation to make a donation, but if they wish, they now have different options to do so.”