Fr Hurley in front of the Parochial house in Navan. Priests of the future must be prepared to work alongside other clergy and lay ministers rather than ministering alone, according to Fr Declan Hurley, who is set to take up a new formation role in Rome in January.
Fr Hurley, currently Parish Administrator of Navan and Vicar General of the Diocese of Meath, has been appointed Director of the Propaedeutic Programme at the Pontifical Irish College.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, he said the days of a priest serving a parish single-handedly were coming to an end.
“Priests are going to have to work in bigger pastoral units alongside other priests and alongside lay people,” he said. “I don’t think we can form priests anymore to be lone rangers.”
Having chaired the National Synodal Team, Fr Hurley said his involvement in Ireland’s Synodal Pathway had given him “a really good sense of the Church that the priests of the future will be ministering in”.
He said future priests would need a strong sense of their priestly identity, a prayerful and evangelising approach to ministry, and the ability to work collaboratively with others.
His appointment, however, came as a “total surprise.”
Having previously studied at the Irish College and spent time ministering in Paris, Fr Hurley said he had assumed his travelling days were over and expected his next appointment to remain within the Diocese of Meath.
Despite the challenge of leaving Navan after 18 years, he said: “I do feel the hand of God is in all of this.”
Describing his time there as perhaps the most defining period of his priesthood, he said working alongside fellow clergy had shaped his understanding of future ministry.
“The parishioners of Navan have been my family for 18 years,” he said, recalling accompanying them through moments of joy and sorrow. Reflecting on the depth of faith he had witnessed among parishioners, he spoke of seeing “how people live their faith and how intentional they are about their faith and how deeply they desire to live the Gospel”.
“They have witnessed to me [through their faith] as much as I have tried to witness to them,” he said.