Bishops to discuss vocations and Mass attendance on Rome visit

The prevalence of suicide, declining vocations, and Mass attendance are just some of the issues that the country’s bishops will discuss with senior Vatican officials when they travel to Rome tomorrow for a 10-day pilgrimage.

Ageing priests and a lack of vocations to priesthood are seen as some of the biggest threats to the Irish and European Church but this trend is not mirrored worldwide.

Globally, there have never been higher numbers of seminarians with 117,000 studying worldwide and there has been a “noted increase” in numbers in Britain and the US.

Because of this, it had been previously reported the bishops were also to ask Pope Francis to consider allowing priests who left ministry to get married to return to priestly work. The bishops are due to meet Pope Francis next Friday.

However, a failure to reach consensus on the proposals among the bishops meant the proposal, which came from Bishop of Kilmore Leo O’Reilly, will not be made.

The Irish Catholic had reported that it is rumoured that Pope Francis is willing to allow married former priests to return to ministry in Brazil on a phased and experimental basis.

The country’s bishops, headed by Archbishop Eamon Martin, are to travel to the Vatican as part of their mandatory ‘Ad Limina’ pilgrimage to the tombs of Ss Peter and Paul [‘Ad Limina’ means ‘to the threshold of the apostles’].

Prior to the Ad Limina visit, each diocesan bishop submits an overview to the Holy See of what is happening in their diocese to the Holy See.

Bishop of Cork and Ross, John Buckley said that his report outlines how his diocese will experience a “vocations crisis” unless numbers increase.

It is also, despite record attendances this Christmas, challenged by falling mass attendance and a need for more people to become ministers of the word and eucharist.

“There are green shoots however with the improvements in the UK and US. Maybe people are seeing that secularisation is not the answer. I am hopeful that these things are cyclical and my focus is on strengthening families and the faith in families and local communities,” he said.

He also noted in his submission to the Vatican “the big increase in young people taking their own lives and the great distress many young people are experiencing because of the great expectations coming from social media”.

The diocese’s “inclusive approach to education” in primary schools is also highlighted. “There are up to 25 nationalities at St Mary of the Isle school in Cork city and the diocese plays a very important pastoral role in providing a chaplain and diocesan priest at UCC,” he said.

Bishop Buckley said the diocese helps the migrant community “in any way we can”.

Bishop Buckley visited the direct provision centre on Cork’s Kinsale Road recently and remarked that “it was grossly unfair that the asylum seekers are not allowed to seek work” as “their applications to are taking far too long to process”.