Serving priest numbers to halve by 2030
The number of priests in the Diocese of Kilmore will have almost halved by the end of the decade. The shocking projection has prompted the Diocese to take steps to get more lay people involved in the work of the Church.
Details of the challenges faced by the Church were included in a pastoral letter published by the Bishop of Kilmore, Martin Hayes, entitled ‘Making Decisions and Preparing for the Future Together’. It has also prompted parishes across the Diocese to organise meetings to allow parishioners to express their views and contribute towards the solution.
“We have 64 priests in the diocese but, by 2030, there will be only 27 priests ministering in the diocese,” Bishop Hayes told the Celt this week.
“I’m here three years and have been listening to a lot of discussions about the future. The main issue coming to the fore is the age profile of priests and the fact they are older and fewer.
“We have a good system where lay people work with priests at present but we need to develop this further. Currently we have a big Mass schedule, with a lot of Masses not well attended. We would be better with less Masses and fuller churches.”
Bishop Hayes is keen to emphasise how any decisions will be a result of consultation with parishioners across the Diocese.
“I’m not deciding anything, I’m starting the consultation process asking people what they see in the future with lay people being involved. We have three questions: are you concerned about faith in the future?
“What can lay people as pastoral ministers can do in our parishes? And, how can an individual parish prepare for fewer Masses, possibly with an arrangement with the neighbouring parishes?”
Diocesan specific solution
Bishop Hayes says that the exercise is focused on meeting the needs of the Catholic Church in the Kilmore Diocese, rather than changing the Church as a whole.
“We’re looking for local solutions to the Church, we’re not focused on reforming the Church. It will be confined to just our diocese.”
“We’d look at things such as how a lay person could work as an intermediary between a priest and a family organising a funeral or they could visit nursing homes and schools.”
Training would be provided to those who decide to take up the role, according to Bishop Hayes.
“We’re looking for people who are prepared to be trained, designing a course with the pontifical university in Maynooth specific to this diocese’s needs. We hope to invite applicants to this course in the Spring of next year, with a view to having it up and running by either September 2024 or 2025. It will be based on courses already in existence at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. It will be a two-and-a-half-year, part-time course, done both online and in person with a six-month figuring out period so people can work out if it is for them. We have to work out if it will be a paid role as we currently have some paid employees in the diocese, although some people would be willing to do it voluntarily, but we would at the very least cover their travel expenses.”
He says that the Church will take time to look for the right type of people to be involved.
“The person must have a calling to the role. They need to be able to relate well to people and be trusted because they will be doing a lot of confidential work. Some will be cut out for it, some will not. We will be publicising it both through the Church, in parishes and beyond and will interview all candidates.”
Each parish to being meet on the week commencing Monday, November 6 to discuss the questions, with a further meeting planned for Cavan Cathedral on Tuesday, November 7.