CHURCH CLOSURES INEVITABLE IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
IN PART FOUR IN OUR SERIES ON THE DIOCESE OF FERNS, DAVIDLOOBY HEARS ABOUT ‘A LA CARTE’ ATTITUDES TO FAITH, A FUTURE WHERE WE TRAVEL LONGER DISTANCES TO MASS AND THE CONTINUING IMPACT OF COVID-19
FR SÉAMAS DEVÁL Bunclody
AT 94 years young, Fr Séamas DeVál says he is considering retiring – at 105!
The oldest priest in the Ferns diocese has lived through a World War, several recessions and the scandal of the Ferns Report, but is not going anywhere any time soon.
Based in Bunclody, Fr DeVal was ordained in 1950 five years after Hitler’s armies were defeated and at a time of growing vocations in the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Having studied at St Peter’s College, he went on to do his H-Dip in UCD, before returning to teach Irish at the college. He was named St Peter’s President in 1973 and held the role for three years, before moving to Oulart where he was parish priest until 1997 when he retired from parochial duties.
His next role was as diocesan archivist, holding the job until 2018. ‘This virus has interrupted me because I was due to do a lot of supply for Easter ceremonies [for another priest in Clonegal]. I still work as a priest here in Bunclody and I concelebrate mass every other day. I am only 35 in my mind.’
Fr DeVál said he never thought about doing any other job. ‘My intention was always to try and be helpful to people in any way I can.’
He said the diocese was different and priests were made to be more deferential to bishops prior to the arrival of Bishop Donal Herlihy.
‘Now bishops are just another member of the group, with more responsibilities.’
He said he knew some of the priests who were involved in sexual abuse in the diocese and was shocked for their sake when he learned about what they did.
‘While I was very shocked, the revelations of the Ferns Report didn’t affect me at all. I knew some of them and I was shocked because I never dreamt of such a thing before. I was very sad for their sake because they had let themselves down. Things like that have been happening for the last 200 years and not only in the Church.
‘I know some priests were probably depressed about it but I never let it affect me. I didn’t know that such a thing was going on, but I did know there were concerns but it came to me as a complete shock, out of the blue.’
He is concerned but not despairing about the church’s future.
‘I’d imagine things will improve. I would say there will be big changes. It goes in cycles. In the 18th century there were the same amount of priests as there are today. Until the second half of the 20th century there was a great boom in clerical students. In my class in Maynooth there were 80 in one year in Maynooth, with others being ordained in St Peter’s College, in Britain and in the USA.’
He said there were three career options when he was a youth that involved a college education: doctor, teacher or priest.
Attributing to the fall off in vocations to modern society and advances in technology and science, Fr DeVál said he has a ‘faint hope’ that the current health crisis might bring people who have stopped attending mass and saying prayers back into the fold and ‘to their senses that not everything in the world is independent of God or providence. It might turn people back thinking they don’t have power over their lives’.
He said huge crowds still attend funerals. ‘People haven’t cut themselves away [from the Church] completely. They attend weddings and baptisms and ask for prayers to be said. We are still relevant and I am alive to say that.’
The involvement of lay people in running the Church should be considered, he added. He said without parish priests in communities there would be no point. ‘There would be no mass, no blessed sacrament, that would be the end of religious practise.’
Fr DeVál said having several interests, including Gaelic and local history and placenames, means he is never bored. He has a mobile phone and uses the local library computer, while he has also published several books. Currently cocooning he said one of the perks of the job is that people have been bringing him cooked dinners.
‘I am happy here for the next ten years at least and then I’ll retire at 105,’ he said.
FR PATRICK CUSHEN Ferns
At 73, Fr Cushen is one of many priests in the diocese also cocooning presently.
For anyone struggling with how a compassionate God could allow such a virus take hold on earth, Fr Cushen offers these words: ‘We cannot comprehend the work of God from beginning to end and we can see that especially at this time. People will say why is God allowing this. How often do we do what the Lord said? Ask and we shall receive. Start off and ask the Lord of the Harvest. Maybe we can come up with a fantastic way to encourage young people to think about the Church.’
‘Times have changed. Once upon a time we had churches full. The faith of people is not as strong as it used to be. These days people are more interested in human things over spiritual things. We are whole people and it’s important to develop both.’
He said parents are more interested in developing the physical and sporting education of their children than their spiritual side.
A creeping materialism in society has meant many adults now base their worth on the kind of car they are driving and the value of their homes, he said.
‘They are concerned about what they are going to get in the future. It’s fantastic what parents bring to their children’s lives but the spiritual side is lacking. They are clearly most generous and supportive of their child but a whole child is spiritual and physical.’
For Fr Cushen the role of the priest hasn’t changed much over the years.
‘It’s about preaching the word of God and showing people that faith means a lot to us and that you are there for them and willing to support children, the sick. I have a great care for the sick.’
Fr Cushen started out in his priestly career in London, having been ordained in 1971.
He said: ‘It was a great experience. I then spent 20 years in Wexford town.’
Marshalstown was his next posting prior to moving to the bigger church in Ferns.
He said although the role can be stressful at times, he gets great support from parishioners. ‘I get great affirmation from people when I do all these things’.
He said everyone involved in the church is generous.
‘I am happy in the role. I am lucky in that we have a curate here as well and we are kept busy with paperwork, child protection, GDPR and finance, which the secretary looks after.’
Among the most important aspects of a priest’s role is being active within the community in which they serve and Fr Cushen has been an exemplar in this respect.
‘I think it’s very important for a priest to be involved in all areas of their parish. I go visit schools regularly and am actively involved in the board of management. I go into classrooms because I am interested in the children and I care for them and I want to get the best for them, with Jesus guiding them, telling them of the God that is there, who loves them, and not to think anyone is perfect.’
Fr Cushen said by creating that bond with children he hopes they will come to him and recognise that he is not a threat to them.
He sees the Covid crisis as a blessing, in a way, as he believes it will make people stop and think about what really is important in their lives, including in the spiritual sphere.
He said lay people can get involved, adding: ‘I would be very open to anything that helps the spread of the gospel message and all areas should be looked at. I would have no problem with married priests at this stage; it won’t affect my life.’
Looking back on the Church in Ferns during his time he recalled the dark days of the sexual abuse on children by priests.
‘I knew every one of them, I go back to the scriptures and Judas went astray. That wasn’t put there for nothing. Peter defied the Lord. We are human and we make mistakes but he is a rewarding God and a forgiving God.’
Looking back on his ordination day he said it was the greatest day of his life.
‘I have been most contented in my priesthood. You get out of marriage what you put into it and the same applies to the priesthood. I give 100 per cent. I will continue on as long as the Lord allows me.’
FR JAMES DOYLE Mulrankin, Tomhaggard
Fr James Doyle is, by his own admission, from a uniquely religious family. One of three brothers who are priests – all of whom are former engineers – he got the call in his 30s and has been proudly serving the diocese ever since his ordination in 2006.
Now 47, Fr Doyle ‘supplies’ for local churches, meaning he has four churches under his auspices presently. He can see a time in the not too distant future when
FOR SHOPPING, PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS HAVE GOTTEN USED TO GOING TO TOWNS SO THEY WILL HAVE TO GET USED TO TRAVELLING FORM ASS
churches amalgamate whereby one mass takes place in front of a large congregation instead of four masses in front of small crowds.
Having started out as a deacon in St Mary’s secondary school in New Ross, he worked in Bunclody and Monamolin, prior to moving to Mulrankin in 2014. With four churches in the Kilmore parish, he ended up saying mass for Fr Denis Doyle after he suffered a health setback from which he is recovering.
Like all priests under 70 he has been busier than ever, covering funerals which take a lot of organising.
‘Families are finding it very difficult when people can’t visit them the way they used to. Some just went straight from the funeral home to the graveyard and some had a small family gathering in the church.’
Although no public masses are being said during the Covid-19 crisis, Fr Doyle did manage to celebrate private masses for his family during Easter. ‘I am from Murrintown so I am in the lucky position that my family live within the parish so I can stay there.
‘My father, who is a reader, came down. Our family is unique because I have two brothers who are priests, Brian is a Dominican in Italy and Rory is a Grey Franciscan in Waterloo, London. Our family is a bit different and we have certainly contributed our {fair share} to the Church. The two lads are engineers too and we all came late to our vocations.’
The eldest of the family, Fr Cullen keeps in regular contact with his twin brothers. He said: ‘Everyone talks about a crisis in vocations. Really what we are experiencing in the last 20 years or more is a crisis of faith. For the four churches I celebrate mass in – one church would nearly do and it still would not be packed.
‘The issue is if I didn’t have two churches and only one I don’t know how I would afford to live. Some people lament the loss of a second priest they used to have years ago but that was in a past when there were three times the number of people attending mass. I feel there will be enough priests for what people need.’
Fr Doyle is Diocesan Representative for World Youth Day, Chairperson of the Liturgy Group and a member Vocations Promotion Team.
He said vocations were impacted by the sex abuse scandals. ‘Priests were probably put on a pedestal in the past, unfairly so. They have been brought back down to earth. Our whole culture has become more secular. A lot of people believe in God in Ireland and want their child to be baptised. They won’t say they are atheist but I have very few friends [my age] who would pay anything to a priest.’
He said most people entering the priesthood today are from a professional background.
‘The order in Ireland that is doing very well at the moment is the Dominicans which has two people entering a year. I was 33 when I was ordained and I knew what I wanted. I feel sorry for priests who went into a seminary when they were 17 and had no experience of work or life; a lot of them have left. Being a priest is a calling in itself; it’s a different calling to marriage. I had girlfriends when I was younger. As a priest you have to experience the loneliness of being on your own and trusting in God.’
He suggested people have an ‘a la carte’ approach to the Church. ‘They want the Church to be there for the big occasions like a funeral and we still get lots of young people at funerals. For many people, mass is for older people and yet when their mother or father dies they want you to be there so it’s not that there is no faith but it’s not seen as a priority.
‘In my grandmother’s time they felt when they were getting older and going to die that they needed to be ready to be prepared for that (spiritually). Ultimately the lack of vocations is just a symptom of the lack of faith.
‘Here in Ferns we probably have the youngest age profile of priests in Ireland per head of population. There have been at least five priests ordained since I was ordained. In Kilkenny there has only been one ordination in 20 years and Clare have 20 parishes that have no priest so we are doing OK.’
He said the faithful across the diocese will have to get used to new dynamics.
‘For shopping, people in rural areas have gotten used to going to towns like Wexford or New Ross for their shop. There is no post office in many villages now so they will have to get used to travelling for mass.’
He feels privileged to be able to be there for people at their greatest time of need. ‘People talk to me from the heart and there are very few, if any other people, they will have conversations like that with, in that depth.’
He said priests get paid less than the minimum wage. ‘If you were on the minimum payment at any time you would be doing well. I know one or two priests who applied for Covid-19 payment and then had to justify it, only to be refused. They had to get politicians to try to sort it out. You would be keyed off having to justify your existence for the payment.’
He is hopeful churches will reopen soon, saying there is no shortage of space to social distance in them.
‘It isn’t for the want of space! They are so big. I am much more concerned about going into a supermarket. Even at a funeral people are so spread out, it’s safe. It would be nice if mass could be celebrated again because people get so much out of it and it would bring a bit of sanity and normalcy into their lives.’
FOR THE FOUR CHURCHES I CELEBRATE MASS IN – ONE CHURCH WOULD NEARLY DO AND IT STILL WOULD NOT BE PACKED