Ireland now has the lowest number of vocations in the western world, according to Bishop of Kerry Dr Bill Murphy. And increasing wealth and parental opposition to the idea of a son entering the church were factors are behind the fall, he believes.
According to Dr Murphy, some of the 53 parishes in the Diocese of Kerry, which extends into north and west Cork will be without resident priests from next year.
About 40 of the parishes already have just one priest, and many of these were elderly, and working under pressure, said the bishop.
However the loss of a priest would not mean parishes would lose their identity or be amalgamated, Dr Murphy stressed.
As in France, one priest would serve a number of parishes for sacraments and there would be more lay people involved.
Lay participation in the affairs of the Church was one of his priorities and he would also encourage the use of deacons (a rank below a priest) from 2009, he told listeners.
Asked about vocations, Dr Murphy said while there was an increase in vocations in the US and other countries, Ireland was probably the worst in the western world for vocations.
“And it doesn’t look very promising,” he said.
Affluence was a factor in the decline “and free education was a big factor”, the bishop said.
He had no doubt that in the past “some people became priests for the wrong reasons”. Some did so under parental pressure. Today, however it was the other way around.
“Parents today are reluctant to see a son or daughter going forward for the Church,” he said.
A weakening of faith was also responsible, he said, and people do not have the same faith today. In the past, God and the after-life was a reality. He said there had been a lot of idealism when he was a student.
He did not include the issue of child abuse by clergy as a factor in the decline in vocations, bur speaking separately on the issue Dr Murphy said being abused by a priest was more serious because it involved a breach of trust.
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(Source: CIN)