Priesthood in Ireland - Signs of a new era for the Church

Thirty-six seminarians – ranging in age from 18 to their mid-40s – are due to commence study for the priesthood in this country in 2009.

In comparison with earlier decades, this is a modest number, but it is a particularly favourable development because it marks a distinct increase over other years in the current decade.

The number is, in fact, the highest since 1999. It is up from 24 last year, which amounts to a fairly dramatic increase of 50% in just one year. It would seem to be part of a trend because the number last year was up by 25% over the previous year. These increases are partly the result of a determined effort to broaden the Catholic Church’s appeal for vocations.

New seminarians in earlier years were typically teenage school leavers. Those are atypical now. Many are coming from industry or business, often with college degrees and experience in various fields, such as engineering, accountancy, teaching, and the caring professions. Thus they come generally with broader experiences of life, and this should be seen as a positive development.

The great majority of new vocations for the priesthood will begin their studies in the national seminary at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, which has been training men for the priesthood since 1795. This will bring the number of current clerical students to 77. Seven seminarians are also being transferred from Scotus College in Glasgow to complete their studies in Maynooth, following the closure of the seminary in Scotland.

“In 20 years’ time, unless there is a reversal in the present trend, you will have a large number of parishes who won’t have a resident priest,” Dr Willie Walsh, the Bishop of Killaloe, warned in 2003. There had been a decline of 15% in the number of priests over the previous 30 years, and 40% of the existing priests were already over 65 years of age.

The hierarchy talked of the need for an enhanced role for the laity. The welcome increase in the number of vocations should not be allowed to reset the clock in relation to the role of the laity within the Catholic Church. The Church consists of much more than the hierarchy and the clergy; it is the laity who make up the preponderance of the body of the Church.

The Church has been rocked in recent years by the child abuse scandals, and there is likely to be further fallout from the child abuse investigations in the Dublin and Ferns dioceses. But there has also been welcome indications that the institutionalised Church has recognised and has begun to address the problems.

Archbishop Michael Neary emphasised the role of a priest as a listener. “If a priest is not a man who listens, he can hardly inspire dialogue among his parishioners,” he said. Hopefully this portends another welcome change. The disclosure of abuse scandals, which were covered up over decades, indicate that instead of listening, members of the hierarchy tended to stand on ceremony and sit on everybody.