Q. 1. Is it appropriate to breadfeed during Mass? Where I attended Mass on a Sunday morning, the service is usually completed in 30 minutes. Prior to the service, the mother made a comment that, most likely, half way through the Mass, her daughter will want to be fed. At no time during the Holy Mass did the baby cry. Half way through the service, the mother covered herself with a blanket and breastfed her daughter.

A. 1. It is obvious from what you are saying that the mother wanted to draw attention to herself and say in a subtle way, look at how much I care about my baby girl. Her behaviour was totally unnecessary and self-serving. It had nothing to do with the child being hungry.

If the child was crying or screeming to be breastfed, the mother could have step into the back room to feed her daughter. But this was not the case. In this case, the mother could have waited 15 minutes minutes to feed her daugther after the service. Even better, she could have fed her daughter before the service. Another choice, if possible, the mother could have choosen to attend a different service at which time her daughter would not have required to be breastfed. (In this instance, attending one of many other Churches in the area was a possibility.) Breastfeeding during the Consecration is no different than someone taking out their beef sandwich and juice container to start munching away. Such would be inappropriate and rude, in some cases scandalous to those nearby. There is a time and a place for everything! Breastfeeding during Holy Mass is not the time and the place!