This article is from page 4 of the 2007-03-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
Bishop Willie Walsh wants to cre- ate a “new model of Church” to deal with the scarcity of priests.
Dr Walsh said half of the 109 priests working in the diocese’s 58 parishes serving 115,000 Catholics are over the age of 65 with one-third over 75.
In a Lenten Pastoral letter, Dr Walsh said, “The scarcity of priests is taking hold and we have no choice but to respond to it in practical ways. I realise that change is never easy. Change born out of necessity can be even more difficult.”
Dr Walsh wants Massgoers to “‘vol- unteer for the essential work of manag- ing finances, school boards of manage- ment, choirs, maintenance of parish buildings and works of charity.
“A move in this direction is a move towards a new model of Church. It is not about lay people helping the priest; it 1s rather about lay people fulfilling their baptismal promises. We need to continue to move and to move more rapidly to the model of Church in which the priest concen- trates on the work that requires the presence of a priest.”
The figures published by Dr Walsh
show that there are less than 20 priests under the age of 44 in the dio- cese and only one man studying for the priesthood.
“We cannot gloss over problems such as the ageing profile of our priests, but we should be able to tack- le problems and see them as opportu- nities for change,” said Dr Walsh.
“T am deeply aware of criticism of bishops and priests when we speak of the need of lay involvement. People have a sense that we were not that ea- ger to give way in the past.
“I know in my heart that when we had a plentiful supply of priests we
neither allowed nor encouraged peo- ple to take on their rightful role in the life of the Church.
‘“Today’s shortage of priests has created a ‘needs must’ situation and people are not slow in pointing this out to us.”
Dr Walsh also anticipates that few- er masses will be held as a result of the age profile of the priests and their declining numbers.
“The best way to approach this matter is for small groups of neigh- bouring parishes to devise a Mass schedule which will meet the pasto- ral needs of the people in the area.