Having served for a long time as parish priest in Wicklow, Bishop Donal Roche expressed concern for priests who are busy all year round and particularly the increased pressure they face in the run up to Christmas.
The bishop suggested providing services conducted by lay people rather than Mass, which could take “pressure off” stretched priests. The bishop advised that priests reflect on their experience of Christmas this year and use it to plan ahead for next year. He said: “Make a note for next year… Perhaps to combine forces, get people to help, don’t be taking it all on yourself. In a lot of places there are willing volunteers who can help with the planning and the preparations.
“I know that priests are overworked, and they feel overloaded and have to provide a service to people, all you can suggest is that they talk about it, reach out to somebody – to the bishop, their neighbour, or somebody else, and not to carry the burden on their own. If it is too much, tell somebody. There are lots of people, there’s a vicar for clergy, there’s the local bishop, whoever, who can hopefully be a support for them. So do not just struggle and burn yourself into the ground, talk to someone about it if it is getting you down.”
Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh Michael Router warned that it is an “accumulation that causes burnout” but Christmas can naturally be “very busy”. Looking at how Christmas falls this year, he said that “you have the weekend beforehand, Christmas in the middle of the week, the weekend afterwards, the beginning of the Jubilee of Hope which has to be marked in most dioceses, so it is a very packed schedule over Christmas. Burnout comes from an accumulation of extra pressure throughout the whole year and when you come to this stage in the year you can be a bit tired”.
Bishop Router said: “It’s very difficult to give advice because pressure keeps coming on priests all the time. I would just hope that people in parishes would be understanding and aware of that… and try if they can not to put too much pressure on them and to help out, to offer their assistance in organising liturgies, and helping in whatever way they can over the course of the next few weeks.”
While acknowledging the timetables in parishes for Christmas have already been finalised, Bishop Roche said a Christmas service rather than a Mass for children “made a big difference” when he was a parish priest. This was reiterated by Bishop Router.
Bishop Roche: “It has worked very well, to have a simpler celebration of the Word, Christmas carols with the story of Christmas for children, and keeping it very simple with no Holy Communion. It was that in particular that caused a lot of the stress – a huge crowd and they get so restless. So a shorter, simpler Christmas service, lots of music and just the story of Jesus and Mary and all that, I recommend it. And they can have Mass later in the evening for those who want Mass.
“That was the great thing about it: that can be led by lay people and I have done it that way. When I was under a lot of pressure, I had lay people leading that early service and I had Mass in the other outlying churches when that was going on, so it took some of the pressure off.”
Bishop Roche stressed that while it’s not fulfilling an obligation, “it’s for people who might have a lot of young children, it’s a kind of Mass that might suit families with young children – but it’s not Mass – and people need to be made aware of that, it’s just a celebration of Christmas”.
Fr David Vard, Administrator of Stradbally parish, Co. Laois told The Irish Catholic “I think last year we did have too many Masses, so we reduced Masses this year”. He asked parishioners to “temper their expectations”, as while they may be used to going to Mass in their local church at a certain time over Christmas and have a “great affiliation”, this may not be possible. “They might now have to go to the 9pm in another church in the parish and I hope people can understand that,” Fr Vard said.
In his parish they have reduced the number of Christmas eve Masses by two. He added: “I think it makes more sense. I think with the level of people volunteering, choirs, and also the number of priests – we’re being stretched as it is… so you are bringing together your resources, you are having a nicer celebration – I hope – and the priest is less stressed.”
Fr Joe Deegan PP of Clara parish, Co. Offaly said that Mass attendance has been “slipping” and that the Covid pandemic and people watching Mass online has played a part. Fr Deegan told this paper: “Crowds are not as big as they used to be even back pre-Covid, even families and people who used to come to Mass, even once or twice a year, I think we’ve lost quite a few of that group as well.
“We’re not at the point here where we would be reducing Masses but the Mass schedule that we have is manageable,” he said, adding: “I think we should realise that depending on numbers of priests and age of priests we don’t have the same resources there, of man-power, and I know in some big towns and even in some of the more rural areas in the West – where lads are looking after a number of parishes – they’re obviously going to have to do something to make it more manageable.”