Parishes can no longer expect to have their own priest
BISHOP BRENNAN MAKES COMMENT AS CLERICAL CHANGES ANNOUNCED
PARISHES in County Wexford will no longer be guaranteed their own priest, the Bishop of Ferns Denis Brennan cautioned this week, as he announced a new round of clerical changes.
‘Due to a continuing reduction in the number of active priests in the Diocese of Ferns, no parish can be guaranteed a replacement resident priest if and when the current priest is moved or retires’, said the Bishop, in the strongest confirmation yet of the vocational crisis facing the Diocese.
Instead, parishes ‘will be looked after pastorally and administratively from within a group of priests of that pastoral area’, he said.
Illustrating the point, the Diocesan Press officer, Fr. John Carroll, the current curate in Barntown is being moved as Parish Priest to Glynn, effective from September 2, to succeed Fr. Pat Stafford who is retiring after 51 years service in the priesthood. Fr. Carroll will continue to retain the duties of his Barntown curacy which he has held for the past 12 years, as well as being the Diocesan Chancellor.
Fr. Brian Whelan is moving from his chaplaincy of the Irish Armed Forces to become Administrator of Ramsgrange to succeed Monsignor Don Kenny, the local parish priest who is retiring on health grounds, effective from September 2.
Meanwhile, Fr. William Howell, the current parish priest in Gorey will take on the role of curate from August 5 while Fr. Billy Flynn, the current curate is to become parish priest of Gorey in his place.
Fr. Billy Swan, curate in St. Aidan’s Cathedral has been appointed Co-Ordinator of the Diocesan Vocations Team to replace Fr. Jim Finn, parish priest in Crossabeg who has held the position for a number of years. Fr. Swan will continue as curate in Enniscorthy as well.
‘This is the first year where you can see the very obvious decline in vocations’, said the Diocesan Press Officer Fr. Carroll. ‘It’s the first year you can starkly see the impact of the reduction in vocations on the diocese. Where a priest had one job, he now has to double up.’
Fr. Carroll said ordinations are down to about one every couple of years at the most compared to four or five a year up to 20 years ago.
‘There are a lot of curacies that don’t have a resident priest’, he said, outlining areas where one priest is serving bundled parishes which were previously served by two priests including Screen/ Curracloe/Castlebridge; Oulart/The Ballagh; Rosslare/Tagoat; Murrintown/Piercestown; Our Lady’s Island/ Tacumshane and Raheen/Newbawn. In the past, Cushinstown/Rathangan/ Terrarath had three priests and now has one.
Wexford town was formerly served by six or seven priests and now has three resident clerics while St. Aidan’s Cathedral in Enniscorthy had four and now has two and St. Senan’s, Enniscorthy had two and now has one. Ferns had three priests and is now served by two and Gorey had four and now has three.
‘The simple fact is that we’re coming into line with the rest of the world. The rest of Europe and the United States have experienced this before now’, said Fr. Carroll.
‘We’re operating in a new and different world, not only do you have to do more, you have to learn to do it differently but that’s the world that is here’, he said.
‘We were lucky in Ferns. This reality hit an awful lot of other Dioceses 15 years ago. Ferns did so well for so long, we were able to staff everywhere up to quite recently. This year, it seems clear that the changes are here now. There is no denying the fact now’, he said.
‘We had a huge number of priests – 25 years ago we had 20 priests from the Diocese working in various parts of the world – we gifted them to the Brazil Mission, to Africa. Where once we had a surplus we now have a deficit.’
‘The Brazil Mission is gone, the African Mission is gone’, said the Diocesan Chancellor, adding that the Diocese still has two Army chaplains Fr. Pat Mernagh and Fr. David Murphy.
‘We’re coming clearly into line with everyone else, with what is happening
WE’RE OPERATING IN A NEW AND DIFFERENT WORLD, NOT ONLY DO YOU HAVE TO DO MORE, YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO DO IT DIFFERENTLY – FR JOHN CARROLL
nationally and internationally’, he said.
A Chancellor is the chief record-keeper of a diocese, keeping the official archives and managing the administrative offices.