Lay people will soon be leading a range of services in the Diocese of Limerick, from prayers at funerals to the parish preparation of children for the sacraments, Bishop Brendan Leahy has said.
Warning that “rapid changes” are necessary to deal with the decline in clergy in active ministry, the Bishop of Limerick appealed to parishes to look towards lay leadership.
In a letter to priests announcing clergy appointments, he said their ageing profile was now “very evident”. As a result of the decline in priest numbers, a number of pastoral units in Limerick will be losing a clergy member.
It is clear at this stage, Bishop Leahy told them, “we can no longer guarantee the celebration of a Mass in each church in the diocese each Sunday”.
These challenges were calling the diocese to envisage and work towards putting in place new forms of lay leadership in its parish communities.
A pastoral plan formulated following Limerick’s 2016 Synod called for formation programmes to help lay people assume new pastoral roles. These have already been put in place and Bishop Leahy said they should be built on.
“We are hopeful others will step forward to offer their services. We will need lay people to lead prayers at funerals, at gravesides, to visit schools on behalf of the parish, to be involved in pastoral councils and baptismal teams, to help with the practical administration of parishes.”
In his letter, the Bishop of Limerick stressed that working closely together would be essential as the Church adapts.
“We all need to work urgently to prepare for the new arrangements that are needed in the coming years. It is in working together, encouraging each other and facing challenges with peace of soul combined with realism and determination that we move forward,” he said.
Limerick is just one of a number of Irish dioceses feeling the effects of declining priest numbers. Thirteen parishes in the Diocese of Kerry no longer have a resident priest. Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Dublin is set to appoint parish priests to oversee multiple parishes in a bid to offset its shortage of priests.
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