The Catholic Bishop of Killaloe has sounded a warning over the drastic fall in resident priests in the diocese, revealing an ageing profile of clergymen which is a vocations time bomb for the Diocese of Killaloe.
Bishop Fintan Monahan has revealed that 31 parishes out of 58 in the Killaloe diocese currently have no resident priest under 75 years of age.
Overall, the diocese comprising 58 parishes has just 52 incardinated priests in active ministry who are under the age of 75, which represents less than one such priest per parish.
This means that even with a small number of annual appointments, when extra vacancies arise, it is becoming infinitely more challenging for the Bishop to now fill these vacancies.