Irish diocese predicts big fall in number of priests

The Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois warned Catholics to prepare for a major reduction in the number of priests serving in the diocese over the next 15 years, writes Sarah Mac Donald.

In a letter read out at Masses last weekend, Bishop Francis Duffy told Massgoers that three parishes out of 41 in their diocese  have no resident priest. “This trend is set to continue,” Bishop Duffy said explaining that there is not one man in training for priesthood in the diocese.

At the moment, there are 52 diocesan priests serving in 41 parishes with another four priests from abroad or missionary congregations. Bishop Duffy predicts that by 2030, that number will plummet to just 25, and this much smaller cohort will have to cover all 41 parishes. “These statistics tell us that from this year on, as our priests retire or are transferred, there will not be priests to replace them and so an increasing number of parishes will not have resident clergy,” he warned.

He also indicated that in the coming years, more parishes will be clustered in order to offset the decline; parishes with a priest will share their cleric with other parishes with no resident priest.

“Critically, there will also be an impact on the workload of priests and their welfare is our concern in this changing context,” the bishop admitted. “We have a declining, and an ageing group of clergy. From both a pastoral and a duty of care perspective, it is important that responsibilities our clergy now carry are shared with parishioners even more so than at present,” he said in his letter, as he encouraged the lay faithful to help address the crisis.

Last year, the Towers Watson study for Dublin Archdiocese predicted a 61 per cent drop in the number of clergy serving in the country’s largest diocese by 2030, from 369 priests to 144, provided religious orders maintain their current level of commitment.