Fr Tom Hayes, a West Cork parish priest, told The Echo: “It’s part of a change that’s happened in Ireland in the Catholic church and in general recently.
“There’s an internationalisation in many of our communities, and there’s people from all over the world working in hospitals, including people from India working in medical roles.
“In our diocese, we now have priests from Poland, India, Africa, and other places too, and at Easter time a number of people from other countries were initiated into the Catholic church for the first time.”
He added: “It can be a big change for people who need a priest and the priest isn’t Irish, sometimes they stop and think, but people are getting used to it.”
The Diocese of Cork and Ross nominates priest chaplains to CUH, Cork University Maternity Hospital, Mercy University Hospital, South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and Marymount University Hospital.
Fr Hayes said these priests are coming to Cork from India specifically to take up these roles, explaining: “They are coming specifically from India to work in our hospitals.
“This order of priests’ specific role, what they devote their lives to, is care for the sick — in Ireland we have lots like me who work in parishes, or administration or education, but these priests, their only role is to administer to the sick.”
This order of priests is inspired by the life of 16th-century Italian St Camillus who devoted his life to care of people suffering from plagues.