WEDNESDAY morning Mass at St Aloysius in north Caulfield, and barely a
dozen of the faithful are scattered through the handsome old Catholic
church built to house 1000, as Father Gerard Diamond celebrates the
sacrament.
Two hours later, he is leading Mass again at St Anthony's
in Glen Huntly for a healthier congregation of about 50.
Father Diamond
has no idea how many times he has said Mass but, at an average of
nearly 450 a year for 44 years, he is verging on 20,000.
He has been parish priest at Glen Huntly since 1992, but
in 2003 he ''acquired'' the Caulfield parish, and in 2008 the two
parishes were formally merged.
Father Diamond's telescoping parish ministry is a fine
example of trends in the Australian Catholic church, which a new report
says faces ''imminent disaster''.
The report, Catholic Parish Ministry in Australia: Facing Disaster?,
is a statistical analysis by former priest Peter Wilkinson, a senior
research fellow at the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs on
behalf of an active lay group, Catholics for Ministry.
It shows that from a peak of one priest for every 518
Catholics in 1966, there is now one for every 1895 Catholics.
But that
ratio counts 1431 retired priests and those not in parish ministry - the
real figure is much higher.
In New South Wales in 15 years, it could
be one priest for as many as 22,000 Catholics, one for every 13,000 in
Victoria.
The catastrophic decline in parish priests - which will
intensify as the boom clerical generation ordained between 1955 and 1975
retires or dies - comes as the Catholic population is rising rapidly,
largely due to immigration.
In 2010, based on Australian Bureau of
Statistics figures, the Catholic population was 5.6 million, up 470,000
from the 2006 Census.
Already one in four Australian parishes is without a
full-time priest.
The Australian bishops - banned by Rome from even
mentioning the possibility of married priests or women priests - are
trying to meet the challenge by merging parishes and recruiting priests
from overseas, often on short-term arrangements - a strategy, according
to Dr Wilkinson, ''of despair and desperation''.
Since 1994 184 parishes have merged.
Today 1282
Australian parishes have 1523 priests but by 2025, the report says,
there may be as few as 600 home-grown priests for a Catholic population
estimated to top 7 million.
But Dr Wilkinson says importing overseas priests - now 20
per cent of the Australian total - is no solution.
Soon recruitment
countries such as Nigeria, India and the Philippines will not be able to
spare priests, and those who come now often struggle to adapt to
Australian life and have a different focus - they see themselves as
missionaries engaged in the re-evangelisation of Australia.
Catholics for Ministry co-founder Paul Collins shares
that concern.
''Many of these foreign priests are inexperienced and come
from cultures that are tribal and patriarchal. They have little or no
comprehension of the kinds of faith challenges that face Catholics
living in a secular, individualistic, consumerist culture that places a
strong emphasis on equality, women's rights and co-responsibility
between clergy and lay people,'' he said.
Dr Wilkinson says the situation is far more serious than
he anticipated. ''The crisis is real and the scale is huge. The question
is, what are the bishops able or prepared to do, and, from what I can
gather, Rome keeps a very tight rein on them.''
He said the figures showed priests would be forced to
focus on the sacraments and Eucharist at the expense of other important
duties such as pastoral care.
Father Diamond accepts that priestly ministry is
changing, but thinks a well-run parish can still cope.
In a secular job
he would have his feet up already, but priests do not retire until 75,
seven years away.
In fact, he knows he will be needed much longer - as
long as he is mentally and physically capable.