Parishioners vow to keep up the fight as diocese scraps diaconate

Killaloe bishop has postponed the plan for permanent deacons pending further consultation

Disgruntled parishioners in Killaloe diocese have vowed to continue their fight for more lay involvement in parish ministry as Bishop Kieran O’Reilly bowed to pressure this week and reversed his decision to recruit permanent deacons.

Following a campaign by parish volunteers over recent weeks in reaction to the publication of a pastoral letter on the permanent diaconate – a ministry reserved to men – Dr O’Reilly conceded at the weekend that he would postpone the plan pending further consultation.

Listened carefully

In a letter read at all Masses, he said he had “listened very carefully” to concerns raised and in the interest of allowing “the further implementation of the pastoral plan” he would no longer pursue the introduction of the diaconate.

The news came ahead of a public forum held on Monday by parish volunteers, many of them women, who saw the diaconate as a barrier to lay involvement in the diocese.

Some 200 people, both lay and clerical, attended the meeting to discuss how the diocese would be better served by lay ministries open to both men and women.

One of the organisers, Mary Hanley from Ennis, told The Irish Catholic: “People expressed a sense of disconnect between the institutional Church and the people on the ground, and many speakers said they felt they were not being listened to.

“The consensus was we need to find inclusive ways of training and commissioning lay people for various ministries in the Church,” she said. “We are going to continue this dialogue and we have already been asked to arrange another meeting to build the momentum and become a pressure group to achieve change in our Church.”

Poorly handled

Martin Lynch, Co-ordinator of the Irish Deacons’ Circle, told The Irish Catholic he was disappointed that Dr O’Reilly had withdrawn the permanent diaconate, but understood the bishop’s position. He said overall “the introduction of the permanent diaconate to dioceses in Ireland has been poorly handled.

“It is uncoordinated, there is very little commitment and people are not informed about it,” Mr Lynch said.

Feedback from the Killaloe forum is now to be presented to Dr O’Reilly who has agreed to meet the group.