Catholic Church urged not to ‘steal’ Africa’s priests
Traditionalists question Vatican move as British worshippers struggle to understand new priests
THE Catholic Church has been accused of “robbing” Africa of its priests to tackle shortages in the UK, leaving British worshippers struggling to understand services in “poor English”.
The claims were made by the Rev Deacon Michael Phelan, a retired Permanent Deacon in the diocese of Northampton, who raised concerns amid what some have deemed an international shortage of Catholic priests.
In a letter to The Tablet, the weekly Catholic publication, he said: “At a time when this country is extremely short of priests it is disconcerting that our cardinal and bishops see it as a solution to rob dioceses in Africa and elsewhere of their equally scarce resources of priests.
“This leads to our laity having many foreign priests with poor English or accents that cannot be understood, coupled with very different cultural backgrounds.”
The Rev Deacon added in his letter: “The Amazon Synod has revealed a strong demand for suitable married priests and women deacons and the same is true in Britain, if only our bishops would listen to many of the British laity.”
His comments come following what some traditionalists fear is a relaxation of Catholic rules in order to keep the faith alive.
Last month, bishops recommended that the Pope gives permission for married men in the Amazon to become priests. The move came after a landmark vote in the Vatican and marks an historic proposal which will upend centuries of Roman Catholic tradition.
It was viewed as alarming to some traditionalists within the Church who fear the Pontiff ’s approval of the recommendation would signify a landmark change in the Church’s centuries-old discipline of celibacy.
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) in Ireland recently called for the celibacy rules to be relaxed and for women to be ordained in order to combat the shortage of clergy.
The ACP warned that if the decline in the number of serving priests continues to fall, then members of the Catholic faith in Ireland face the prospect of being denied church weddings and christenings.
Furthermore, last month campaigners gathered outside the Vatican to call for the lifting of a ban on female priests
‘It is disconcerting to see that our cardinal and bishops see it as a solution to rob dioceses in Africa’
that would “save the Catholic church” amid claims that not enough men were being ordained.
While Pope Francis has opened up increasing discussion surrounding women’s roles and appointed women in key Vatican positions, the topic of them becoming priests is still very much taboo. A spokesman from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said: “The ratio of priests to people in England and Wales is reasonably healthy – around one priest to 1,000 parishioners.
“The number of Catholics attending Mass from Africa, Asia and South America has increased dramatically in the last decade, particularly in urban areas. As a result, from diocese to diocese, much prayer, consultation and reflection has gone into how best to respond to that changing pastoral reality. The Church in this country has always been enriched by priests from other parts of the world coming to minister here.”
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