‘THE COMMUNITY HAVE ROWED IN BEHIND US’
IN PART FIVE OF OUR SERIES ON THE FERNS DIOCESE, WE HEAR HOW PRIESTS HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMED BY THE GENEROSITY OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN DONATING MONEY TO HELP SEE THEM THROUGH COVID-19 AND BEEN CHECKING IN ON THEM. DAVID LOOBY REPORTS
Fr Jim grew up in East Wall, Dublin, and has spent most of his priesthood working in urban settings.
Having been ordained from St Peter’s College he spent a year in Dublin prior to moving to provide cover in Ramsgrange for a few months.
He did a course in religious formation in Dublin, before returning to St Peter’s where he was dean of discipline. Following this he was appointed to the Wexford town parish.
‘People are the same no matter where you go; it’s all about how you interact with people and how they interact with you. We are all on the merry-goround, we were busy running around here and there and it was all very important in itself and all of a sudden we’ve stopped. It doesn’t matter if you believe in God or not, suddenly people are stopping to smell the roses and hear the bird song,’ he says.
Fr Jim acknowledged the pain and suffering people who have lost their and those who are unsure as to whether or not they can open their businesses, are going through during the current health crisis.
He said he has learned a lot about how resilient and good Wexford people are during his time in the county. He recalled working for over 27 years in Wexford alongside seven other priests.
‘I moved to Wexford and there was so much happening, you went from schools coming back after summer, into the opera festival, Christmas: Wexford was go, go go! I really enjoyed my time there and never saw myself as someone who would settle in the country. In Wexford there were eight of us when I started and three when I finished and that will probably go down to two.’
He said Bishop Brendan Comiskey and Bishop Denis Brennan were always very good with priests, saying there were opportunities given to move to different parishes. ‘It’s different now because when I was in Wexford there were more masses and you were running, here, there and everywhere. Even though I am here now in Ballindaggin, with two curacies in Caim and Kiltealy; each would have had their own priest, I have four masses at the weekend and morning masses on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.’
He said the role of the priest remains the same. ‘The structure of the liturgy is the same. I am fine with the workload.’
He said times will have to change for the church. ‘I am in my late fifties; put another ten years on me and the engine will start to slow down. I don’t know what the solution is. We have come from a mission where the priest did everything. He was the one people came to. They prayed and went home. Now people have a much greater sense of their parish and their own community.’
He said lay people comprise committees in parishes across the diocese, all of whom provide great help to priests. ‘People are very good. I have people who call here to drop off food and some people are putting money in envelopes and they are being dropped off.’
He said a virtual collection service was launched in Ferns in late April. ‘It was only set up last weekend. It’s for the income of the part. It came about after some people made enquiries that they wanted to contribute but couldn’t because they weren’t allowed out due to cocooning.’
People log on to the Ferns. ie website and click whichever parish they want to contribute to. ‘You can make a once off donation, or a weekly, monthly, annual payment through a credit or debit card to pay insurance and other bills like the ESB and any other expenses a parish might have.’
He said: ‘The role of the priest is very important. In Kiltealy and Caim they have no residential priests. When the last priest left it was like the post office closing. People were thinking “all of a sudden the priest is gone” and that was the final nail in the coffin.’
He said parishoners understand that there are less priests to go around. ‘People are very encouraging about that. They found it very difficult initially but now they are very understanding of it. Lay people are coming into their own roles. I see it in other parishes too; they are doing a lot more administrative work and that allows me to go in and do what I am ordained to do, namely celebrating the Eucharist with the people and to be with them in the good times for weddings and baptisms, Communions and Confirmations, and in the times of bereavement also. Funerals are tough on people because they can’t grieve in the way they normally would. Even though sometimes people are very elderly when they die, it’s the telling of the stories, how we remember people. It’s all part of the healing process.
‘Our role has always been a sacramental role; it was never to be overseeing big buildings and community halls. The community have rowed in behind us. As we get are getting older we will still be able to provide what we were ordained to do.’
A webcam installed in the church in Ballindaggin meant Fr Jim could celebrate Easter services for people not only in the locality but across the miles. ‘Everything that happens here people can tune in to. We had a funeral a month ago and relatives from Australia, Canada and England could see it. So yes technology can be useful but there is also the reality that they miss physically being here.
‘People are missing going to mass in Sunday and seeing their neighbours. People are fed up and locked in and people really miss the church which is more than just a building of bricks, it’s a communion, a community where people come together.’
Fr Jim said someone didn’t invent a lockdown up to drive us mad and annoy us. ‘This for your good and my good so I don’t infect you and you don’t infect me. By sticking to the medical advice we are saying to each other that I love you and you love me. It’s a way of showing how much I respect you.’
FR DENIS KELLY Screen
‘I am busy in a different way and in a very interesting way. I am a guy who wouldn’t be very techy but I joined Facebook. When I told my friends they were all taken aback!’ Ordained in
1983, Fr Denis has seen many changes in the diocese and in society over the intervening years and sees change as the one constant. ‘Today I do two masses on Facebook Live each week and I did the entire Easter services live. What I really like is when people are having a special moment to be able to celebrate that with dignity. We had two funerals last week and family members were cocooning and were abroad. They were able to watch it online and we got a lot of positive feedback.’
Fr Denis spent two years working in the House of Missions in Enniscorthy and worked over the following 35 years in a mixture of urban and rural parishes. ‘The pastoral relationship with people is still the same. The world has changed but people still smile at weddings, cry at funerals and rejoice at baptisms. The pastoral relationship is the same. There aren’t as many going to church as there were way back but still people connect with things in the same way in life’s important moments.’
For Fr Denis serving the people of his parish is a privilege. ‘Some professions like this one allow you into people’s lives. It’s a privilege and also a great responsibility. To have their confidence and trust; it’s one