Bishop urges vocations at diocese’s sole ordination

THE Bishop of Kerry, Dr Bill Murphy, has urged people, especially parents, to encourage vocations in young people.

“I believe that God is still calling young people to the priesthood and religious life. The Holy Spirit is still prompting the hearts of young people. They need guides, including parents, who are not afraid to point the way for them,” he said.

He was preaching at the ordination of Fr Bernard Healy, of Tralee, the only priest being ordained in the Kerry Diocese this year.

He said the six years Fr Healy had spent in his formation in Rome would give him “a big picture, a broad perspective with which to view and judge the contemporary happenings and trends in the Church whether it be in Ireland or in the wider world”.

Bishop Murphy was joined by over 45 other priests at the ceremony in the Church of Lady and St Brendan, Tralee.

The bishop said the Church would always need priests fully committed to preaching the gospel.

“We must pray above all that those whom God is calling to the priesthood will hear his voice amid the noise and confusion of today’s world,” Bishop Murphy added.

Fr Healy, who is to return to Rome to complete postgraduate studies in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, celebrated his first mass in the Church of Our Lady and St Brendan.