Priests missing face-to-face interaction call for reopening of churches
IN PART SIX OF OUR SERIES ON THE DIOCESE OF FERNS, DAVID LOOBY SPEAKS WITH PRIESTS WHO CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THEIR CHURCHES REOPENED AND BEING ABLE TO VISIT THE SICK AND PUPILS
Fr Sean’s first posting as a priest was South Africa the year Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and the plight of the country’s black community shaped his egalitarian worldview.
Born and reared in West Cork, Fr Sean joined the Mission of the Sacred Heart and was ordained in 1961.
‘My mind was set on my particular vocation from the very beginning. Once I was ordained I was sent to South Africa where I spent almost 30 years. It was fantastic.’
Based in the northern Transvaal area, Fr Sean found himself in a country riven with conflict. ‘Shortly after I went there Mandela was imprisoned and the day I left Mandela was released. There was no mixing between whites and blacks during my 29 years there.’
Working mainly within black communities in an area the size of Munster with around 40,000 people, Fr Sean said he embraced the challenge from the get go. ‘I think coming from West Cork where if there is a problem facing you, you try and solve it – I approached every situation with that mindset. The language was the difficult part for me as I had three different languages to learn.’
Fr Sean achieved international fame when he baptised children born to their grandmother, who was their surrogate mother. ‘One of my parishoners was a surrogate for her own daughter and she had three children. The daughter was 21 and had gotten damaged delivering her first child. There was a big international debate as to whether the children should be christened and the story was covered in American, French and English newspapers.’
When asked if he would baptise the children, Fr Sean said that he would. ‘To me baptising a child means every child should be baptised. It was a nine day wonder for about half a day.’
After leaving South Africa, Fr Sean was appointed to a parish in Liverpool, where he found a people even friendlier than the people of Ireland.
‘It was fantastic. That was in the 90s. The people were so friendly and were very appreciative of everything and of the service you give.’
Galway was his next port of call and he spent seven years in a parish just outside the city there, prior to being appointed parish priest in Gusserane.
In his early seventies by now, Fr Sean wanted a quiet life and following a chat with the then bishop of Ferns, he relocated to the Sunny South East in 2008.
Now cocooning, he said he can’t wait to emerge ‘like the biggest butterfly’ once restrictions are lifted for over seventies.
Fr Sean said the challenge for priests is getting young people engaged in religion.
He said the role of the priest has change tremendously over the years. ‘The priest is no longer a figurehead in the parish and lay people are doing more. It’s a concern not only for this diocese, but for every diocese in the country and for every religion also because the missions are also short of vocations. So the time has come to open the door for lay people to do more, which is the whole drift of the Vatican Council. My attitude is God is in heaven and all is right in the world; it’s still all part of God’s plan.’
FR JIMMY MOYNIHAN Newbawn
Fr Jimmy was ordained in June 1988, having studied in St Peter’s College.
‘Back then in the diocese of Ferns, there was an understanding that the guys from the North, from the Diocese of Connor, we had a surplus of priests at the time, with around 23 on loan priests from Connor and all around the world who were sent here.
‘Today there are over 20 parishes without curacies like in Raheen. There are very few guys who have less than two parishes.’
Fr Jimmy arrived in Newbawn in August 2015, having previously served in Murrintown, Clonard and Gorey.
He was 24 when he was ordained.
‘Before I started my studies I went out to work and came back in again.’
He worked as a classroom assistant at St Patrick’s Special School.
‘I was working on the school bus as a helper. Having a caring nature goes with the job. My pals in the priesthood are caring by nature. It’s part and parcel with the job. For the most part, anyone in religious life, regardless of what part of it they play, there is a caring streak. It’s like being a good husband or a good father; you are there to serve people as best you can and help out as best you can.’
He said the parish priest in Ireland is still an integral member of the community. ‘We’re there for whatever is going on, whether it’s a field day, or a pattern. We had a great time at the Tops of the area variety shows in Foley’s pub which was absolutely brilliant; community at its best. Thank God we had it when we did.’
Fr Jimmy said weddings were always traditionally held in churches, but today many are held in hotels and registry offices. ‘Young people who are getting married today are inclined to get married older. Society has changed in that what would have been frowned upon 20, 30, 40 years ago is taken as a given today; there is good and bad in that. No one has the right to judge a life. The role of the priest is for us to serve the people who want to be served. When I was a young lad unless the parish priest ran something it wasn’t happening. The priest ran the youth club and the first disco; whatever was going on.’
He said the rising age profile of priests combined with the fact that there is only one priest in training, is a big worry.
With a cocooning bishop and many priests also stuck at home, there is an extra workload on younger priests.
He said families who have to bury a loved one during Covid-19 have been very stoic.
‘We have a quite active and elderly population here so lockdown is tough.’
He said broadcasting masses from Newbawn church has proven difficult. ‘It’s a magnificent church we have here. The only problem is the walls are so thick for getting broadband coverage.’
He misses being able to do sick calls, adding that due to Covid-19 restrictions he can only do emergency cases and funerals.
‘It’s a very stressful time. One thing we do in Ireland that we haven’t lost in our culture. When someone dies it’s taken for granted that the whole community takes over and everyone steps in and they are all part of the grieving process. From going to the wake and removal to the church and the sandwiches after. All the chat, it’s all unique in itself. A lot of these elements are missed now. The funeral mass can still be celebrated, albeit with restrictions; mass is still said. Another mass will be
THERE HAS TO BE A REACHING OUT TO PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT COMING TO MASS. WE HAVE OUR OWN WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK PAGE AND THAT IS A WELCOME DEVELOPMENT
I’M HEALTHY AND STRONG NOW AT 55. IN TEN YEARS TIME I’LL BE APPROACHING 66. IN ANY OTHER JOB YOU’D BE RETIRED. I DON’T WANT TO RETIRE; IT’S NOT PHYSICAL WORK BUT IT TAKES A MENTAL TOLL
celebrate at a later date.’
For Fr Jimmy taking time out from the demands of the job is vitally important.
‘I try to take Mondays off and go home and spend time with my nephews and nieces. That is providing no other priest within the cluster is very sick. You are always living off the mobile phone. For me to get a holiday is impossible. It has changed.’
He said priests have to mind their mental health.
‘Most people are entitled to retire at 66 or 67. Some of them worked hard over the years. Everyone likes their two weeks break from work in the summertime. I don’t get that but I’m lucky out and can get a break from saying weekend masses if I have to. By the time Thursday rolls around you are worrying about the weekend mass. You have to keep in touch whether you are on holidays or not. The switch off at the end of the week is hard for me.
‘I find sometimes life can pass you by and you can get yourself caught into a routine. I definitely think in a priests life prayer is the most important thing. It’s like with any relationship, if you’re not making time for each other it falls apart.’
He said unless people make a conscious decision at some point in their life to embrace religion then it will not be relevant to them in a meaningful way.
The drop in income due to the church being closed is not a big concern for him.
‘From the day I was born I was spoiled. I have always been blessed. There are weeks when you wouldn’t have a penny but the minute I needed money I would have it.’
He said people are very good, especially in these difficult days of coronavirus. ‘I could open a small coffee shop with all of the buns and cakes left at my door. People have been leaving money too.’
He said the present model of the church is to ‘keep the ship afloat’. ‘You never thought you’d have two or three parishes to run when you set our as a young priest. I’m healthy and strong now at 55. In ten years time I’ ll be approaching 66. In any other job you’d be retired. I don’t want to retire; it’s not physical work like being on a building site shovelling cement, but it takes a mental toll.’
He said the Ferns diocese is unique in that priests’ incomes are entirely dependent on collections at mass and money donated for anniversaries, weddings, funerals etc, ‘We are taxed as being self employed. You nearly pay your accountant more than you pay your taxman.
He praised the local community for their response to the Covid-19 crisis, adding that everyone who wants to be contacted will be contacted.
FR JIM FINN Crossabeg
From Craanford, Fr Jim was ordained in 1976 in St Peter’s College, which he said was very revolutionary at the time in its teaching.
‘The training now is different but you couldn’t have predicted these times in the 70s. We were trained for the times we were living in. Personally, I would have liked to have done more but what we learned it gave us the basics to explore more.’
Multimedia and the online revolution has always been of interest to Fr Jim. He would also have liked to explore other religious beliefs.
‘I served in the Mission House in Enniscorthy. We went for a week or fortnight to different towns where we preached and visited schools.’
He spent ten years at Bethany House and taught spirituality in St Peter’s College and served at Courtnacuddy for 13 years and in Crossabeg.
Based in Ballymurn for 17 years. ‘From the time we started until now there have been many changes. When you set out you want to deal with a lot of spiritual things. The role has changed as there are more administrative than spiritual jobs, from GDPR, finances, child protection etc. They weren’t there when I was starting out. Society has changed where our work is concerned. Today we need to define what our faith is; we need to define that for young people.’
Fr Jim said it’s a good thing that people are embracing the Catholic faith out of their own choice, and not due to social pressures. ‘As a result they will be much more open about their own [spiritual] development and much more articulate about their faith and more conscious.’
Fr Finn is on the vocations committee and having seen only one person set out in training to be a priest in five years, he feels the future lies in lay people developing their own talents within the diocese.
‘Lay people need to develop their own gifts and become involved themselves. They don’t need to follow what the priest is doing but rather find their own path and work in conjunction with priests. It’s not just administration, people are very good on spiritual things. I do Bible study and people are very good at picking up their own spirituality and at expressing it.’
Fr Jim isn’t concerned about the drop off in mass attendances. ‘I have a young population coming in from both areas. I have seen numbers increase and decrease but also I think there needs to be a development of Bible study. There has to be a reaching out to people who are not coming to Mass. We have our own website and Facebook page and that is a welcome development. I think they are a great means of spreading the message of the church and of engaging with people as well.’
Describing the internet as a highway into people’s hearts and minds – one which priests can use – Fr Jim, who is in his late 60s, said he finds his job very meaningful and rewarding. ‘I would prefer someone else to be doing the administrative work. We have a parish council, a pastoral committee and finance committees. I find them really helpful and encouraging. I would like to do more. I can’t do house visits because of my other workload. I did them when I came here first and the population has grown here tremendously since. I visited every house in the first 18 months and found that really good talking to people on their kitchen floor. They really open up.’
Among the other roles he enjoys is visiting schools. ‘I ask pupils to ask me questions. 13-year-old youths today are not the same as they were 17 years ago. They see TV and have a lot of adult questions. By the time they come to be in 6th Class they have a lot of adult questions like “does God exist”.’
Fr Jim has a website for Crossabeg/Ballymurn parishoners aged over 18.
‘It’s all about faith. The people I have had here years ago are now either at work or in college. They’re aged 18 to 35. These people who I would have been meeting I’m not seeing anymore so it’s good to engage them on Facebook. I think sometimes our lives are so busy that we don’t have time to think about the bigger things, like quality of life or our spiritual lies. I think the website has given people the chance to do that. Now people are wondering what all the rushing and tearing about was for. They were spun out and can’t talk to their children anymore so this is a good time for people to look at their values and their priorities and press the reset button.’
Looking back over his time as a priest, Fr Jim said: ‘As a teenager I asked the question, was there a God. When I was a teenager I came to the conclusion that there was. While I had doubts about entering the priesthood I have never doubted it from the first day I started. An older priest once told me to see prayer as the most important part of my day and that is what I have done and that is very meaningful to me even in tragic and hard times. It permeates everything I do.’
Money was not a factor in him becoming a priest and he isn’t concerned about not having much income presently with churches closed.
‘You wouldn’t be in it for the money because it wouldn’t work; you wouldn’t be able to get it out of them,’ he joked.
‘To be honest money is the least of my worries. People are very good. They are calling to my door and are calling asking if there is anything that can be done. I think it would be a sad day. I did vocations work. We’re very lucky with the priest we have. It does need to be done a lot better. I couldn’t do it as well as I wanted to. Young people may not be going to Church but they are still being called to be a priests. We have people who converted and the became a priest; that needs to come across. People don’t have the spirituality for priests for vocations to grown but the presence is there.’