‘Foreign priests won’t solve shortfall’
IN light of the recent reshuffle of ministry in the Kerry Diocese, Pastoral Director of the Kerry Diocese, Fr. Ger Godley, has expressed some doubt over the notion that the introduction of more foreign priests might be the solution to the county’s declining number of priests.
The recent reshuffle has left two more parishes, Ballyheigue and Duagh, without a resident priest; bringing to five the number of parishes now without a resident priest.
There are currently just 51 priests in parish ministry in the county, and Bishop Ray Browne has cited the ageing profile of the clergy and health concerns among the factors putting pressure on the Diocese to provide blanket cover.
But while some have suggested that bringing in priests from other countries might appear the easiest solution to alleviate this pressure, Fr Godley is somewhat unconvinced:
“I’ve been to Kenya on work before, and it seemed to me as if their resources were under pressure as well. There wasn’t a huge amount of priests there.”
“So while I welcome every priest who wishes to work in our diocese, I think it might be misplaced to presume this is the solution to all our problems.”
In response to the current pressures, Fr Godley has been focussing on increasing lay involvement within the diocese, an approach that he says has worked well so far:
“It’s impossible to say how many lay people are co-operating with the diocese, or going through training to become more involved.
“I’d say there are a few thousand helping out in some way across the county, but as I say you can’t put a number on it.”
“So while the number of priests has fallen, lay involvement has never been greater, and that’s helped hugely.
“It’s something that probably should have been focussed on sooner, but it’s being done now, it’s going well, and we’re determined to keep it going.”
With fewer clerics in the diocese, their workload has increased - putting intense pressure on individual priests to minister.
However, while the current circumstances are challenging for priests, it is not necessarily all doom and gloom, Fr Godley explained:
“Resources are stretched, but that’s given rise to more co-operation between members of the priesthood in the county, which is a positive development.”
“With the increased involvement of lay people, there are opportunities for the church, and with us all working together we’ve seen lots of teamwork and camaraderie developing. So while there are difficulties, there are a lot of positive things happening in today’s climate.”