The archbishop of Tuam has said that he is holding off on the
establishment of a lay deaconate because the response of the laity to
the lack of clergy has been so positive and he said he has been
heartened by this.
In a homily at Masses in his cathedral, Dr Michael Neary set out some
stark statistics about the collapse in the number of working clergy but
said that the functions that lay deacons might fulfil are already being
taken up satisfactorily by lay pastoral councils in parishes.
In the circumstances, the archbishop said he would be “guarding against the clericalism of ordained deacons at this stage.”
“Lay people have acknowledged and responded to the situation very
well – in fact their response has given me great hope for the future,”
he said.
But the issue of a deaconate would have to be “considered as part of
the broad perspective,” Dr Neary went on, saying he would be watching to
see the outcome of an experiment with lay deacons being ordained
shortly in the neighbouring Elphin diocese.
The archbishop said the
drop in numbers of working priests had led to more and more focus being
placed on pastoral councils redistributing to lay people some of the
duties that priests had traditionally carried out.
“We are prioritising priests’ roles and responsibilities and through
the pastoral councils we are beginning to recognise the capacity lay
people have to take more responsibility for the church.”
The archbishop said the statistics about the priest population were
stark and represented a real challenge.
The average age of the
archdiocese’s clergy is now 63, but almost a quarter is in their
seventies, Dr Neary disclosed.
And in the last five years, a total of 23 priests had died, whereas in the same period only one new recruit was ordained.