Cathal BarryChurch leaders are set to discuss radical proposals aimed at tackling the ongoing crisis in vocations tabled by the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP).
Proposals including the ordination of women deacons; inviting back men who left the priesthood to marry; and the ordination of “suitable” married men were set out by the ACP as possible solutions to the crisis at a meeting with members of the Irish hierarchy last week.
In a statement, the ACP conceded their proposals would cause “disquiet and difficulty”. However, they claimed that in “the narrow window of opportunity” available to the Irish Church to address the shortage of priests, “such proposals needed to be addressed as a matter of great urgency”.
Bishop Philip Boyce of Raphoe, Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway and Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry represented the hierarchy at the meeting while Frs Brendan Hoban of Killala, Dermot Lane of Dublin, Gerry Alwill of Kilmore and Sean McDonagh of the Columban order
were present on behalf of the ACP.
Critical
According to the ACP’s statement, the exchange acknowledged that the situation in the Irish Church will become critical within a decade or two; however, opinions varied as to what might be done to remedy it.
The three proposals put forward by the ACP are ordaining suitable married men (viri probati); inviting priests who left the active ministry to get married to return to ministry at some level; the ordination of women to the diaconate.
The ACP requested that the bishops bring the three proposals to the Irish Bishops Conference, that they would respond to the proposals and that the concerns underpinning them be brought to the attention of Rome. “The three bishops agreed to do this,” the ACP’s statement noted.
At the time of going to press, no bishop had responded to The Irish Catholic’s requests for a comment on the matter.