The 11 pastoral areas of Kildare and Leighlin.
Photo: Kildare and Leighlin Diocese. KANDLE priests say fewer personnel are forcing a rethink of parish life
Bishop Denis Nulty has warned that declining priest numbers are forcing Kildare & Leighlin to rethink Mass schedules, workloads and how its 117 churches are served.
In a pastoral letter read out at Masses on Sunday, Bishop Nulty said priests being recalled by religious orders or returning to their home dioceses, combined with the ageing profile of local clergy, have created a “new reality” for the diocese’s 56 parishes, now grouped into 11 pastoral areas. A search by The Irish Catholic found a working count of 124 Sunday Masses and 59 Saturday Vigils totalling around 183 regular parish weekend Masses across the diocese.
Msgr John Byrne, PP of Portlaoise, said the situation facing priests is “daunting. As we age and progress… all that’s facing you is more work, more duties than you had to do last year, with less personnel,” he told The Irish Catholic. “Everything can’t be done as it was in the past.” Msgr Byrne said cooperation across the new groupings is already increasing, including around schools and sacramental preparation. “Pastoral areas need more than just colours on a map,” he said. “It needs the activity.”
Fr Declan Foley of Bagenalstown similarly pointed to an ageing clergy. “All of us are becoming older and… there’s no great replacements,” he said. “We’re also in many ways becoming kind of busier as well. When it comes to doing Masses, we still have to do them.”
However, Fr Foley said the pressure is uneven, with south Carlow less affected so far than “the northern parts of the diocese where you will have the huge towns”.
In Naas, Fr Liam Morgan said the wider pastoral area has around 12 weekend Masses, having already removed three from its schedule around three years ago, and is now down one priest.
Fr Tom Little of Askea, a priest for 50 years, described ministry extending beyond Mass to schools, funerals, sacramental preparation, sick calls, hospitals, nursing homes, childcare and elderly care.
Greater lay participation presents its own challenge, he said: “It’s very difficult to get people to volunteer now,” with safeguarding, insurance and governance adding further demands.
Fr Bernard Reyhart, PP of Carbury and originally from Sri Lanka, said overseas priests must adjust to cultural differences. “It’s about adaptation,” he said.
But he argued the challenge goes deeper than priest numbers. “People have faith,” he said, “but the thing is, people do not know the religion,” warning that Mass can become “kind of like a show” where people expect priests “to entertain them”.
“Catechism is very, very important,” he added.
Bishop Nulty has called for greater cooperation, lay involvement and sustainable solutions as the pastoral areas develop.
