No Mass in any Limerick church for first time since 1829

MASS will not be said anywhere in one Irish county next Tuesday, the first time this has happened in Ireland since 1829.

The decline in vocations has led to a country-wide priest shortage and is the reason why no Masses will be heard in any church in the diocese of Limerick on Tuesday, the first time this has happened since Catholic Emancipation in the early 19th century.

Instead lay people will perform readings and say public prayers.

It is believed the situation was also caused in part by Limerick’s priests – the diocese has 83 active priests, made up of 45 parish priests and 38 curates, with just ten of them under the age of 50 – all attending a oneday training course on the same day.

Bishop Brendan Leahy warned last year that the decline in vocations, coupled with the falling attendance rates at Mass, could lead to some churches having Mass said just once or twice a month.

Limerick has a Catholic population of 184,340 in 60 parishes, with 94 churches.

Currently 67 men are studying for the priesthood – 55 at St Patrick’s College Maynooth and 12 at the Irish College in Rome.

The average Irish priest is now 67 years old.

In March, it was reported Pope Francis has said the Catholic Church must study whether it is possible to ordain married men to minister in remote communities facing priest shortages.

Francis stressed that removing the celibacy rule was not the answer to the Church’s priest shortage. However, he expressed an openness to studying whether so-called ‘viri probati’ – or married men of proven faith – could be ordained.