Pope's legacy hailed for impact on priesthood

The legacy of the late Pope John Paul II could have a lasting effect on the number young Irish men eager to join the priesthood.

As new figures showed 19 new trainee priests would enter Maynooth this year, Fr Kevin Doran, national co-ordinator of vocations for the Catholic Church, said the Pope’s death had led to a significant interest in vocations.

For the second year in a row St Patrick’s College has seen a rise in the number of trainee priests at the seminary, the only increases over the last 20 years.

Fr Kevin Doran said media coverage of Pope John Paul’s life had led a lot of young men to reassess and reconsider their own lives.

“There was a heightened awareness not just in the sense that people were aware of it at the time but there was a lot of replaying of what he had said during his life and an opportunity to listen again to other things he had said,” he said.

Earlier this year only eight ordinations took place in Ireland, and Monsignor Dermot Farrell, President of St Patrick’s College, said the growing numbers would help keep the church at the front of Irish life.

“I welcome the overall increase in the number of seminarians in formation at Maynooth,” the Monsignor said.

“The continuing growth in the number of students studying for the priesthood is good news for Catholic communities throughout the country for it guarantees the continuation of that sacramental life which is at the heart of the Church.”

Fr Doran also said more co-ordinated work was being done on the ground to show young men what the priesthood had to offer.

“I’d like to think that part of it is a little bit more coherent work on the part of vocational people. Over the last three or four years there has been more working together, in the past we were working more independently,” he said.

“At the end of the day it is people on the ground who encourage people to have a vocation, parents, teachers and priests. It is the mission of the whole church not just so-called experts like myself.”

Seminarians study for up to seven years, a degree course, theology studies and one year in the parish. Others study philosophy.

Fr Doran said fact sheets and information booklets had been prepared to show what vocations involved and what young men could expect from a life in the priesthood.

“That at least puts the thing on the agenda,” he said.

The new seminarians will begin their studies on Saturday and brings the total number of seminarians in the College at the start of the academic year to 75, compared to 63 last year.