The bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Dr William Lee, has warned that the current vocations shortage will mean parishes in his diocese sharing priests for the foreseeable future, if not in perpetuity. In a pastoral letter read at weekend Masses, called ‘Encouraging God’s Call’, the bishop said that while the diocese had a strong tradition of vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the past and even sent priests, nuns and brothers to work abroad, that era had passed.
“This is once again a year in which, sadly, we in this diocese will be having no ordinations to the priesthood”, Dr Lee noted.
“Shortly there will be a number of parishes which will not have a priest of their own but will be sharing with other parishes”.
“This gives some idea of how the diminishing number of priests is beginning to affect us and this ongoing shortage of priests is my reason for writing to you at this time.”
He called for “encouragement and support” for anyone disposed to a career as a priest and for a climate in parishes and schools where people “young and not so young - will be willing to take a leap of faith”.
Bishop Lee, who was ordained himself in 1966, said the role of a priest then “was more socially acceptable and secure”.
But, he went on, “a rapidly changing world has made things very different today”.
“In my youth, it was usually school leavers who answered that call. - nowadays, the Lord calls from a variety of age groups.”
And Dr Lee said that apart from asking for prayers for vocations, he was urging anyone who felt they might have a calling to have “the courage” to take “that positive step”.
Eighteen months ago, a five-year pastoral plan for the diocese anticipated that the lack of vocations was becoming a big issue for the foreseeable future”.
Dr Lee warned that the number of priests in Waterford and Lismore would halve between 1993 when he became bishop of the diocese - and it had 104 priests - to 55 by 2011.
In 1999, the diocesan seminary closed because it had only twelve trainee priests compared with over 100 in the 1940s.
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