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Irish priests will disappear

Leading clergyman reveals fears that Irish priests are a dying breed

KENNETH HAYNES,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Friday, July 3, 2009, 12:05 PM

Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 6:07 PM

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A prominent clergyman in the West of Ireland has revealed that Irish priests are literally dying off, and that the Catholic faith in Ireland will soon be ministered by a country of old men.

In a recent piece he wrote for Furrow Magazine, Fr Brendan Hoban, who is the parish priest at St Muredach’s Cathedral, in Ballina, Co Mayo, warned that the number of priests in his Killala diocese was set to plummet.

“In 20 years’ time there will be around eight priests instead of the present 34, with probably two or three under 60 years of age,” he wrote.

Not too long ago in Ireland, Irish couples had large numbers of children, and the odds were that among the jobs the kids would grow up to fulfill were banker, civil servant, farmer, nun and priest.

As a result, Ireland had a booming priest population, and had the luxury of being able to send priests around the world to spread the word of God. Those days are well and truly over.

Irish priests are becoming an endangered species, and very few men are joining the seminary in Ireland these days.

There is little interest among Irish men to take a vow of celibacy for the rest of their lives, or be part of an institution that is responsible for some of the most sickening abuse the country has ever seen.

Last year, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin revealed that there was 10 times more priests over the age of 70 that there were under 40 in the Archdiocese of Dublin. Martin also estimated that in a few years there will be only around 200 diocesan priests to minister the almost 200 parishes in the diocese.

The same story is being heard all over the country. In Galway, it was revealed in April that the number of priests in the Archdiocese of Tuam would tank by 30 per cent over the course of the next four years.

The numbers are shocking. In 2007,160 priests either retired or passed away, and only nine new priests were ordained. It is another crisis in the Catholic Church in Ireland.

How can the Church in Ireland even start to rebuild the bridges of faith and trust that have been decimated in recent times if there are no priests to minister the flock? Where does the Catholic Church in Ireland go from here?

Nster.com

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Temerity | May 10, 2010, 07:12 PM EDT

The answer for true Catholics( and in my opinion there are no better people in all the world) is to gird themselves to live the teachings of Christ with added vigour and purity in love for each other and show the world that it is not all about sex. I think with the growing influence of Psychology and Psychiatry....there has to be changes made. However there is no need to do away with a central authority I think that is good.Also you cannot take the mystique out of religion.We do not want a Church of social workers and Psychologists dissecting us we want a Philosophy of Christ's teaching of love that underlies our personal right to dignity and respect , that pulls us together not pulls us apart like some specimen on a disecting table..

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Temerity | May 10, 2010, 07:00 PM EDT

I think the idea of celibacy was embraced by fervent young men believing they could rise to higher spiritual heights and a holy life without being encumbered by the costs and many responsibilities of a wife and family with all the emotional baggage and responsibility that entails.Lets be honest here the Church saw it as a very economical way to be able to transport their priests to any place in the world.The boys enclave closed ranks.It gave them a definite advantage over the Protestants. We all know the flaws that have shown up now with the discontent of Nuns,and priests the unnatural sexual outlets ( in some ).But what has struck me in recent times is the loneliness as some priests grow old and alone,sometimes in remote country towns. They become disillusioned and even take to the drink ect. I have even seen half a Parish turn against one Priest over a Parish dispute re the rebuilding of a new school or refurbishing an old one. Which was awful.As the Priest a once brilliant man was then ill and weakened, and had been sent to a quiet place where he could be at peace. He had to pit all his intelligence to finally build the new school he wanted.Sadly he died soon after.

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kickstar | Feb 03, 2010, 11:28 AM EST

Perhaps Rome can give out free vouchers to a knocking shop for all new conscripts this might actually attract some of the right kind of people instead of the usual bunch of Pedeoligests that they have attracted in the past

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Temerity | Feb 01, 2010, 08:05 PM EST

In the end God will Provide!O ye of little faith.

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BishopSean | Jan 13, 2010, 09:31 AM EST

The way forward will be to have priests, married and with family for the most part, who are closer to the laity and will share with them in a healthy new Church planting based on a renewed evangelism. They will have to forsake many of the benefits of the Clerical Caste System.

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Carroll09 | Jan 02, 2010, 05:59 PM EST

Fr Hoban's attitude is most certainly not going to encourage vocations.One wonders what Killala diocese is actively doing to promote vocations-having a few words on the diocesan website is not enough:it simply is not as easy as it once was to get people to say "yes" to God & to religious life.9 out of Ireland's 26 dioceses did not have a single entrant to Maynooth this year-Killala was one of them. Vocations depend so much on the HOLINESS of our priests.In the U.S. it is obvious that dioceses which are faithful to the Church attract most vocations (Lincoln,Nebraska has about 50 seminarians for a Catholic population of about 85,000),while most dissenting (liberal) dioceses could count the number of seminarians on one hand.Worldwide,however,vocations are booming.I don't believe VatII itself is to blame-if anything, it's MISINTERPRETATION of VatII decrees & documents.

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ThomasCoolberth | Dec 27, 2009, 07:47 PM EST

Vatican II is the problem, it has hobbled the Faith.

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cloudsurfer | Dec 17, 2009, 07:22 PM EST

The author of this article confuses administration (ie Priests and Bishops) with organization (ie Laity). Laity are the church. Acting as the Body of Christ, Laity in early Christianity ordained priests, elected bishops, and appointed or deposed popes as needed. If the entire Rotten Hierarchy of the RCC disappeared overnight, Christianity would still go on. What is needed today is a Second Council of Constance to reinstate democracy in the church, and either reform or abolish both the Papacy and the Holy See. Let's get rid of Orthodoxy, Magic and Mystery...which were hallmarks of the neurotic world of pre Vatican II Catholicism and reinvent Christianity for a society on the dawn of a World Civilization and exploration of Space. We need to reconcile with the Protestants. For the new to be born, the old must die. Don't mourn the passing of the old faith, rather embrace a belief in God that is forever new, vibrant, and beautiful.

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Tilliewillow | Dec 12, 2009, 12:39 PM EST

Perhaps it needs to crash and burn to become what it needs to be. These stats are nothing new. Just attend a biblical institute during the summer sponsored by a Catholic college (US) and it looks like you're visiting a convalescent/nursing home.

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bletilla | Dec 09, 2009, 06:26 PM EST

In the United States, new priests are entering only conservative seminaries. There is a return to orthodoxy. The liberal seminaries are empty. New priests are also coming from Poland and Africa. I expect the same will happen in Ireland.

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irishathens | Dec 08, 2009, 11:16 AM EST

Good

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howsyourfather | Dec 07, 2009, 02:52 PM EST

THIS IS HARDLY SURPRISING. SEMINARIES HAVE BEEN CLOSING EVERY YEAR SINCE THE 1980'S POVERTY AND IGNORANCE FORCED MANY PARENTS INTO SENDING THEIR CHILDREN TO THE CHURCH EITHER AS NUNS, PRIESTS OR BROTHERS. THE PAIN SUFFERED BY SOME OF MY FRIENDS IS DIABOLICAL. 'HOLY IRELAND' - MY ASS!

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