An Irish Government minister
has warned that burning incense in churches could be harmful to the
altar boys and girls who help Roman Catholic priests celebrate
mass.
The burning of incense is popular in Roman
Catholic churches |
Jim
McDaid, who is a former family doctor, said the children were at
risk because they inhaled the carcinogenic smoke produced when
incense is burnt close by.
"Here you have quite a thick billowing type of smoke. Sometimes
you see the children with this instrument which is down normally
around their ankles, and the smoke just keeps coming up," Dr McDade
said.
"And sometimes I cringe when I see them literally inhaling this,
because sometimes there is an aroma of it and all I was trying to do
was making people aware."
A spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland said she
was not aware of a study about the effects of incense, but that she
would be looking into the matter.
Smoking debate
Incense has a ceremonial use in a number of churches.
The burning of incense is an age-old element of religious
tradition. Its wafting scent adds a mystical dimension to
proceedings.
In Ireland's Roman Catholic churches today, it is mainly burnt at
funerals.
There is widespread debate in Ireland about the health effects of
inhaling smoke.
The government is proposing a ban on smoking in the workplace,
including pubs, from January.
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