Evidently, that’s not uncommon in some parts of the world.

And an archdiocese in India is trying to put a stop to it:

The Catholic church in a recent circular has instructed the clergy to keep their sermons short.

The archdiocese of Mumbai, Bishop Bosco Penha, stated that priests who preach for more than 20 minutes during mass should be “strongly discouraged”.

“The homily is an important part of the liturgy and is always given by an ordained minister.

It should be well-prepared and to the point,” said the missive that contained a host of other instructions for priests on how to enrich the service to draw more Catholics back to the church.

The memo was printed in the recent edition of the Catholic newsletter, The Examiner.

“People would complain matter, which is read out, is forgotten,” said newsletter editor and diocese spokesperson Fr Anthony Charanghat.

The instructions also discourage the use of PowerPoint presentations and skits to liven up the homily.

“The homily is meant to be a one-on-one between the priest and his parish. A PowerPoint presentation can supplement the sermon, but not replace it.

The Pope has strongly encouraged us to use technology to reach out to the masses, but it cannot be the end of all our interaction with the faithful,” said Charanghat.

There’s more at the link.