Irish Examiner view: Merging dioceses as faithful dwindle

Change within the church is on the cards

Across the south of the country there are active and ongoing discussions about redrawing diocesan boundaries. Picture: Pexels

A scenario deemed near impossible — if not grotesque — just two decades ago by the Irish Catholic hierarchy is now playing itself out across the country.

A recent study by the Iona Institute has illustrated a fall-off of 30% in Catholic baptisms between 2015 and 2025, and consultation documents are now being examined with the prospect of merging dioceses as numbers of the faithful plunge and vocations to the priesthood dwindle.

Add to that the ever-increasing age profile of the clergy, and the Catholic Church is facing a predicament of numbers.

Across the south of the country there are active and ongoing discussions about redrawing diocesan boundaries via the merger of the two main Cork dioceses, Cloyne and Cork and Ross, which effectively cover the northern and southern areas of the county.

There is also talk that each of the other five Munster dioceses — Kerry, Limerick, Waterford and Lismore, Killaloe, and Cashel and Emly — are facing potential merger situations.

Many parishes throughout rural Ireland have already experienced a situation where there have had to be parish mergers in order to keep church doors open.

Individual priests are now effectively having to serve numerous parishes. This, for some, has become a nearly intolerable workload.

Another problem faced by the Irish hierarchy — and by the Church in Rome as well — regards the role of women within the organisation and particularly the ordination of women.

It is a move that has long been resisted by what is a male-dominated organisation, even if women play a vital role within it.

With synodality currently being the papally approved methodology for moving ahead — whereby instead of bishops and priests having all the say, all baptised Catholics are equal and have a say — things might change radically in the coming months and years.

College qualifications: Significant investment warrants results

The oversight of certain colleges and educational institutions in this country needs swift and deep assessment after the emergence of major difficulties with the standards of the qualifications they award.

The ongoing situation at the Portobello Institute in Dublin, where dozens of students have been left bewildered by the fact that their qualifications have fallen short of what is required by the Teaching Council’s curricular subject requirements, is an example.

Those who have studied at this college and completed their courses, only to find the qualifications they gained to be unacceptable to the Irish education system, have been left out of pocket and unable to find work, particularly in the area of physical education.

This is patently an unacceptable situation.

It is striking that the advice being given by the Department of Education and the minister for education with responsibility for further and higher education, James Lawless, that students should consider getting legal advice on the options open to them, is thin gruel for people who have spent anywhere between €12,000 and €20,000 on such courses.

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There is no indication as yet of the State clamping down on institutions which fail to provide appropriate qualifications which meet State standards, and this is something that needs to be addressed.

These students and their families paid out hard cash to try to advance their lives and careers.

They deserve to see their significant investments of money, time, and intellectual capital pay real-world dividends.

Tackling vacancy: Dereliction a blight on our communities

There is an undoubted scourge of vacant shops and property dereliction which has plagued rural Ireland in recent times.

Town upon town across the rural landscape has fallen victim to this problem in recent years, to the point where many now exude a feeling of decay and decrepitude which is as unacceptable, and a blight on their communities.

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Certainly, there have been moves made by the Government to arrest this trend, especially under the new initiative to revitalise county towns across the country.

This will involve engagement via the countrywide network of Local Enterprise Offices, along with regenerative officers and local authorities, to fill vacant properties in a manner which is beneficial to each community locally.

The Vacant to Vibrant retail activation programme is a necessary and prescient one, but it needs to be expanded further to encompass towns and villages that rightly feel they are being left behind.

That communities are having to unite — not to mention having to dip into their own pockets — to keep village pubs open and alive as effective community centres, is indicative of where many parts of rural Ireland are right now.

However, filling vacant shops and buildings with vibrant and profitable new businesses is another matter altogether —and one that needs careful thought and implementation.

The initiative is undoubtedly welcome, as is the need to house people above previously shuttered premises, but sustaining it effectively will also be crucial in the long run.