This article is from page 8 of the 2013-07-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
THERE is a glimmer of hope for dwindling vocations in the Diocese of Killaloe as five young men have expressed an interest in training for the priesthood next year and are in talks with the vocations officer.
Even if one of these men are from Clare and decide to enter St Partick’s College Maynooth as a clerical student, it would still be at least seven years before the county had a new Clare priest among the 52 priests currently working in the county.
There is currently no Clare man training for the priesthood and just one man from the diocese – a Birr native – studying in Maynooth.
Meanwhile the number of priests serving the diocese continues to decline, as the patrol needs of the 124,000 Catholics in the six county dioceses are met through a “cluster system”.
According to figures released by the Diocese of Killaloe there are currently 82 priests in full-time ministry in the diocese’s 58 parishes, and The Clare People has learnt that 52 of those priests are serving in this county.
Among the 50 plus priests serving in Clare is Bishop Emeritus Dr Willie Walsh, who retired as bishop in 2010, but continues to serve the people of his adopted county as a priest.
The Diocese also has a priest from a Polish Diocese – Fr Dariusz – attending to the patrol needs of the Polish community.
Based in the Cathedral in Ennis, he serves Mass once a week in Ennis, while also moving to other counties in the diocese to serve Mass and administer at christenings, weddings and funerals.
A further six Killaloe priests are engaged in full-time school chaplaincy, teaching, diocesan administration and other pastoral work throughout Ireland, while five more serve overseas in various ministries.
Fifteen Killaloe priests are fully retired from active ministry, four of these men are from Clare.
The Diocese also benefits from the service of six priests from other dioceses or religious congregations serving as priests and benefits from the ministry of the clergy based at the Franciscan Friary in Ennis and the Cistercian Monastery at Mount St Joseph’s, Roscrea.