Kilmore prepares for fewer priests

The Diocese of Kilmore is having to rearrange and redistribute priests due to the declining number of available priests in the diocese.

“There are simply not enough ordinations in Kilmore Diocese to keep pace with the current and projected number of retirements in accord with the current organisation of our parishes,” the Bishop of Kilmore Martin Hayes said in a statement.

The average age of the diocese’s priests is 71 years, which means more and more priest retiring. The bishop said the diocese had “one ordination thankfully this year and two in the past four years.  We are grateful for those who are prepared to try their vocation to priesthood.”

The Kilmore Diocese had only eight ordinations with four incardinations (priests applying and being accepted into the diocese) since the year 2000. That “means an average of one new Kilmore priest in the diocese every two years over the past 24 years.”

To supply the parishes’ needs, the diocese welcomed priests from abroad and the bishop said the diocese is “most grateful to them for their generous service.”

Recently, the diocese welcomed the ordination of Fr Jordan MacGabhann who will be CC Urney & Annagelliff. Bishop Hayes thanked the two priests retiring, Fr John McTiernan and Fr Brian Flynn for their years of service in the diocese, welcomed Fr MacGabhann and expressed his gratitude for the priests still working in the diocese.

Talking about the opportunity of cooperation between neighbouring parishes, and the involvement of clergy and lay people in Team Ministries, the Bishop said that in the “latest diocesan changes, parishes are being called into a closer partnership while still retaining their identity as distinct parishes with their respective Parish Pastoral Councils and Finance Committees.”

With the number of priest ordinations dropping drastically in the last decades, and parishes having to plan ways to keep operating, a reduction in the number of Masses is in focus.

“Thankfully, the number of lay people actively involved in parishes in our diocese has remained steady, though the overall Mass attendance figures are down”, the Bishop said. “We cannot continue to maintain a system that has become ineffective with the same schedule of Masses, less attendance and fewer available priests.”

He said it is “best to have full churches, and fewer Masses and to have a wholesome celebration of the Mass with maximum participation”.

The bishop also mentioned the need for more vocations in the diocese. “We continue to pray for vocations to Diocesan Priesthood which are the fruit of the faith-life of our parish communities and most especially of prayer in our family homes.”

The new plan for the diocese also included the relaunch of the permanent diaconate. “Over the past year we have launched the promotion of the Permanent Diaconate for men who are willing to give of their time in the service of the Diocese of Kilmore”, Bishop Hayes said. However, “The ministry of the Permanent Diaconate is not intended to substitute the indispensable ministry of priests nor to replace that of lay ministry.”