The least an organist or musician should be paid for performing at a church wedding is €110, according to the Catholic Church's National Centre for liturgy.
The centre said the fee should be higher when there is also a rehearsal, or when music has to be bought or learned.
It recommended that where a church professionally employs an organist, he/she is normally entitled to receive a "displacement" fee when the couple wants to use an organist of their choice, and this be brought to a couple's attention by the clergy.
Where funerals are concerned, it recommended a minimum fee of €80 for the musician at one service, and a higher fee where there were two funeral services.
These recommended minimum levels relate to amateur musicians, who may be professionally qualified but earn their living mainly outside the world of music.
Higher rates would be appropriate for musicians who earn their living principally through music. It suggested that a church musician should receive the following annual fees for performing on 48 Sundays: for one Mass with no choir, €2,389; for one Mass with a choir and a Sunday rehearsal €3,185; for one Mass with a choir and a weekday rehearsal, €3,982; for two Masses but with no choir, €3,982; for two Masses with a choir and a Sunday rehearsal, €5,136; and for two Masses with a choir and a weekday rehearsal, €6,211.
The recommended fees are for a combined organist/choir director position. Where the positions are shared it is recommended each should receive 75 per cent of the above payments. It was also recommended that church musicians should be entitled to at least four Sundays off each year, and two Sundays sick leave in any one year. Regarding music at funerals, it recommended that "secular music should not replace the sacred music which is part of the rite".
The centre also advised that only Christian symbols should be placed on the coffin and that eulogies should be delivered after the funeral Mass or during the removal and involve only one family member whose address has been approved by the priest.
