Mags Gargan
‘Level of services from priests will have to change’
The Bishop of Limerick has said that the level of services provided by priests in the diocese will have to change because of the significant decline in vocations, leading to priests working together as teams serving a number of parishes.
Speaking as he revealed this year’s clerical changes in the diocese, Bishop Brendan Leahy said that a single ordination in 2014 against the backdrop of six retirements is an indication of the challenge that lies ahead for the diocese.
Bishop Leahy said while there are still “a reasonable number of priests in Limerick diocese”, it is time to recognise that “the services we have provided until now will change”. “The ageing profile of priests will mean we will have to shape differently the way we provide ministry in the diocese. It is important for priests to work more in teams, supporting one another and also working together possibly serving a number of parishes,” he said
“Some of the city parishes are very large and I am concerned that we have only one priest in some of them. There are parishes where previously there were two or three priests but now there is only one. But the demands, if anything, are increasing.”
Bishop Leahy has engaged Fr Eamonn Fitzgibbon, Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Planning, to work on his behalf with priests and pastoral area teams to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of the changing profile of the diocesan clergy.
He said he was most grateful to priests for their willingness to co-operate in the changes this year and “to people for their goodness to priests”, saying it was “always moving to hear people speak so fondly of their priests”.
He also said he was very encouraged by “the strong presence” and “generous commitment” of thousands of lay volunteers in many aspects of parish life across the diocese.
