Cathal BarryThe fall-off in the number of priests is significantly greater than official statistics show, The Irish Catholic can reveal.
Figures listed in the most recent edition of the Irish Catholic Directory record the number of deaths of priests and some religious brothers at 160.
However, figures compiled by Fr John Leogue of the Diocese of Elphin show the number of deaths of Irish priests is significantly higher than is officially recorded.
Statistics provided to this newspaper by Fr Leogue, who has been compiling the data for 15 years, record the number of deaths of Irish priests between November 2013 and November 2014 at 234.
Fr Leogue, the Parish Priest of Athleague and Fuerty, includes Irish priests working in foreign dioceses as well as missionary priests in his statistics.
However, the figure is stark when compared to the Irish Catholic Directory listing which spans a much greater period of time and includes some religious brothers.
Statistics
Criticising the “casualness” of the official statistics, Fr Leogue told The Irish Catholic the figures published in the directory each year were “not a very satisfactory listing”.
“It straddles two years and sometimes they leave names out. It doesn’t begin and end on a particular date and so it’s rarely complete. It inevitably leaves some out,” he said.
The latest figures, as published by The Irish Catholic this week, will not be definitively published until next year in the Irish Catholic Directory.
However, Fr Leogue said he predicts there will be between 70-80 priests missing from that listing.
He said it was disappointing because it meant that “very often the work of mighty, mighty people is lost because it’s not reported anywhere”.
“We need a better reporting and a better response to the loss rate. It’s just important that these people are remembered for their service,” he said.
According to Fr Leogue’s listing, there have been at least 3338 Irish priests’ and 36 bishops’ deaths since November 1, 2000 – 909 diocesan priests, 943 Irish priests of foreign dioceses and 888 religious, and 735 missionaries.
This amounts to an average loss rate of 19 per month.