Perhaps my best option is to ignore the request ( my dear husband's suggestion).

My opinion: just ignore it. As you said, the celebration of Mass on the Second Sunday in Advent has absolutely nothing to do with Nelson Mandela.

"Siyahamba" was a fun and simple South African song that was popular in U.S. churches in the 1990s. The lyrics were:

We are walking in the light of God.
(repeated)

It was a protest song or a marching song, and groups in England, Europe, or America sang it when they wanted to make a political statement about their solidarity with the anti-apartheid cause. It's had its day. I'm not sure why a Catholic choir director would present it in church, since it's not a prayer or a word from the Bible, and it's not related to the Mass. I'm scratching my head at that.

But let's pray for Nelson Mandela, that God will reward him for his good deeds and pardon any sins he committed. He wasn't a Catholic, but we can pray for his eternal repose all the same.

certainly had his personal faults

Understatement of the Year Award! :)

I guess my feeling is that while it's always good to remember anything positive, sometimes the past needs to be remembered as a whole. I wonder if your alto knows the extent of what that man did, and how it all seems to have been whitewashed as he simply transitioned to a less violent figure. I haven't seen any evidence that he dissociated himself from that which he wrought.

I did know about it, as well as his behavior when he left his first wife.

I think a good response is that you are helping keep the Church out of politics and are focusing on the liturgy - or focusing on the heavenly, not the secular. That would be my approach.

And, given the readings and propers of the Second Sunday of Advent, I'd think any of the music sung could be offered privately for Mr. Mandela's repose, if one were so inclined (e.g. Populus Sion, Ex Sion Species Decoris, Laetatus Sum, Deus Tu Convertens, Jerusalem Surge?).

JulieColl, now you are making me feel guilty for watching "Blazing Saddles" on cable today. (Purple Bold)

I think I would have to have some ties with South Africa to really understand details of Mandela's political career. May he rest in peace, but I have no connection with him or his country. I may never understand his contributions to any great degree.

Canadash, tell that alto to sing it in the church yard while dressed in native garb. Hope it's cold where you are. ROFL.

Given that after having supported terrorism for years Mandela signed into law some of the world's most pernicious pro-abort policies, any Catholics who compared him with Jesus Christ (and I have seen this comparison made by at least one British newspaper in all seriousness) would deserve to have called into question, not their sincerity, but their basic intelligence.

I see nothing wrong with a private Requiem Mass for Mandela. It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for him. I do not judge the final state of his soul. For all we know to the contrary, even Eric Gill and Fr. Maciel might have been given the grace of ultimate repentance. But if we pray for Mandela's soul, surely it should not be with any immediate prospect of success.

Thank you, canadash. It sounds as if your method will bring results if any method can.

Incidentally, to anyone who might have thought that I was exaggerating in my earlier remark, I have found the British newspaper article by one Peter Oborne which committed the emetic blasphemy of likening Nelson Mandela to Our Divine Lord. This is it:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100249502/few-human-beings-can-be-compared-to-jesus-christ-nelson-mandela-was-one/

If memory serves me (and on memory I must rely here, since Google has disobligingly removed the relevant archives) it was this same British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, in which 16 years ago the adulterous ersatz-Catholic Paul Johnson likened the newly dead Princess Diana to "the Blessed Virgin, who, told of her destiny, announced with proud modesty, 'I am the hand-maiden [sic] of the Lord'."

Thus far, to my knowledge, even Messrs Oborne and Johnson have not yet demanded that Teddy Kennedy be raised to the altar or that Rembert Weakland, in the interests of "diversity", be canonized and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church while he is still alive; but I have probably spoken too soon.

I'm not a stickler for de mortuis nil nisi bonum, but is it fair to say we've covered the ground here adequately?

I agree even though I regard de mortuis as superstitious nonsense. Rather, my objection is that it is off-topic. The response should be to thank her for her input, but that an occasional and venue outside of liturgy would be more appropriate. Mass in most places is already inappropriately "Everything and the kitchen sink" as it is.

I have no dog in the Mandela hunt.
Were I inclined to act purposefully from his (and others') life examples, I'd extend my prayers for all who are imprisoned, criminals included. Christ demands this from each of us, even if the face of the criminal soul you're praying for belongs to Charles Manson.

She doesn't go to another church, because it is not about worship. It's about her getting her way.

I don't know about just not responding. To me, nothing helps people accuse you of being callous, arrogant, etc. etc. than just not even deeming them worthy of a response.

I would offer in ernest to meet with her, assuring her that I will listen and have respect for her position - but also warning her that we may end up having to agree to disagree.

I have had to explain to some that I don't work for them, I work for the pastor. In your situation, you could make a valid case that commemorating a particular individual is a decision best made by the pastor, since he is the one in charge.

I still think this is about power, and sounds like a classic power struggle to me.

There is no mandate to bash your head against a wall.

Although sometimes this turns out to be preferable to talking to people.

It never hurts to acknowledge receipt of the letter, with some non-committal response like "thanks for letting me know your thoughts." I'll close the thread here; hope nobody minds.