Cathal BarryThe head of a well-known Irish missionary society has said the decision to relocate the order’s headquarters to Africa was due to a lack of vocations here.
St Patrick’s Missionary Society, which has been based in Kiltegan, Co Wicklow since its foundation in 1932, has moved its central leadership team to Nairobi, Kenya, this week.
Society Leader Fr Victor Dunne told The Irish Catholic that the move was “influenced by the fact we have very few younger members here in Ireland and very little coming through”.
“We see it as affirming our internationality. Going to Nairobi gives us a forward impetus.
“It also helps us be there for our younger members who are mostly African men now. We feel that the centre of missionary activity for the society is changing from a focus in Ireland to a focus of being in Africa,” he said.
Fr Thomas O’Connor, the society’s District Leader for Ireland, said “from now on the society will rotate on a different axis”.
“Now we will be in Africa where the action is, where there are vocations and where future vocations will come from.”
He said the society was in a “difficult situation” in Ireland, noting that the order has not ordained an Irish priest since 1999.
“Our future as such is in Africa and it’s a way of reflecting that,” he added.
Meanwhile, Loreto House at St Stephen’s Green in Dublin is to close by the end of the month.
The Loreto order is now in the process of relocating the sisters to different houses around the country.
Provincial Sr Ita Moynihan told this newspaper that “the decision had to be taken due to our ageing profile and the lack of new membership”.
“It’s a big house and the aging community there can’t really manage it. These closures are very difficult but the sisters are open to it,” she said.