UK has 4 times more trainee priests
According to Fr Willie Purcell, the more the Church is part of a young person’s daily life, the more they will consider the role of faith in their lives and the possibility of a vocation.
A report in the Irish Catholic newspaper highlighted how there are 14 priests in the first year of priest formation in Ireland compared to 57 men in England and Wales.
Yet England and Wales only have four million Catholics compared to 4.65m Catholics in Ireland.
The lowest ever entry figure for priest training in Ireland was 12 new entrants in 2012.
There are many in parishes across the country becoming increasingly concerned about whether they will have access to a priest and to Holy Communion in the years to come as the majority of priests in this country are aged.
Fr Purcell, the country’s co-ordinator for diocesan vocations, said if the number of vocations is to increase, there will have to be a “greater emphasis on vocations in the Church and its community”.
“Parishes will need to be more vocations-aware, families of faith will need to be more vocations-aware and young people will need to be informed about vocations and informed about vocations,” said Fr Purcell.
“In my diocese of Ossory, 240 people have received the John Paul II Award for work in their community. That is what we need; we need the parish to be alive in young people’s communities. We need to connect with these young people through our work with youth diocesan groups,” he said.
Fr Purcell would like an increase in discernment programmes where people who think they have a vocation can be informed about what is entailed in being a priest.
“In my diocese, we have five men taking part in such a discernment programme — we need more of this, we need to work with people who think they might have a vocation and set up more such programmes to support an inform them,” he said.
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