Martin pulls seminarians from troubled Maynooth

ARCHBISHOP Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has confirmed to The Tablet that he will not be sending any student priests from his diocese to the national seminary in Maynooth in September, writes Sarah Mac Donald.

Instead he has opted to entrust their formation to the Irish College in Rome as a crisis continues to dog Maynooth over allegations of inappropriate behaviour among some seminarians.

Speaking after he led 300 young pilgrims from Dublin in a prayer service ahead of their departure for World Youth Day in Poland, Archbishop Martin, who is a trustee of Maynooth along with three other archbishops and 13 other senior bishops, said he had made his decision “some months ago”.

He said he informed the other bishops at the general meeting of the Irish hierarchy in June. “I have my own reasons for doing this,” the archbishop said. His spokeswoman told The Tablet that three Dublin seminarians will continue their studies at the Irish College, Rome.

Acknowledging that the number of seminarians for Dublin has fallen, the archbishop stated: “What is more important for me is the quality of the men who come forward and the training that they receive.”

An Apostolic Visitation to Ireland was ordered by former Pope Benedict XVI in 2011 that included Maynooth. It was led by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. The report called for more consistent admission criteria for seminaries and proposed that seminary buildings should be exclusively for seminarians and those preparing for priesthood. It also said there should be in-depth formation on child protection.