BISHOP Donal Murray of Limerick has given the go-ahead for a parish revival plan in Southill. Fr Pat Hogan, who currently looks after the parish on his own, is setting about recruiting a full-time pastoral care worker for the Holy Family parish which covers all of Southill.
He said the parish which caters for about 3,000 had, at one stage, three priests.
The aim now with the presence of a pastoral care worker was to foster greater parish spirit and unity, Fr Hogan said.
The parish priest continued: “The pastoral worker, when recruited, will go out into the community and meet and get to know families and the parishioners in their homes and will work closely with me.”
It was hoped, he said, the initiative will identity people who will be prepared to come forward in community leadership roles in the church and parish.
Fr Hogan said that many people who were seen as community leaders had left the area over the years and there was now a crying need to redevelop and rebuild that parish spirit which had been badly affected by the departure of so many families.
Fr Hogan said the two masses on Saturday night and Sunday mornings are attended by more than 400 worshippers and the parish has a team of eight ministers of the Eucharist.
He said: “The people of the parish are great for attending anniversaries and I would like to see the church working more than just for these occasions for the parishioners. The way to do this is go out and reach out to the many fine people who live and bring up families here.
“A lot of the young people don’t come to church, but that is true for a lot of other places. We must try and connect with our young people. A new indoor soccer facility being developed in the old Fulflex building in the Galvone industrial estate will be a great addition to the area to help young people engage in sporting activities at all times of the year.”
He said one of the main objectives of the new pastoral worker would be to get people involved in parish activities.
Fr Hogan said he would like to hear from suitably qualified candidates for the pastoral work position.
Fr Hogan can be contacted on
087 6522746
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