Diocese of Kilmore in ‘uncharted waters’ due to shortage of priests, bishop says

There will not be enough Catholic priests in Co Cavan to serve its 34 parishes within seven years, Bishop of Kilmore Martin Hayes has said.

In the diocese, which covers almost all of Cavan, as well as parts of Leitrim, Fermanagh, Meath and Sligo, half of the priests are over 70 and a third are over 75, their retirement age.

“Due to the ageing profile of our priests, and changes in the behaviour of faith practice more generally, we in the diocese of Kilmore find ourselves in unchartered waters,” Bishop Hayes said.

“This reality means that, sadly, we cannot continue with the existing number of weekend Masses in our parishes. Decisions have to be made which are fair to both priests and parishioners.”

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In a pastoral letter, entitled Making Decisions and Preparing for the Future Together, he said: “We have currently 64 priests in the diocese, with 44 in active ministry resident in 34 parishes, two abroad and 18 retired.

“We have one seminarian at this time nearing ordination to the diaconate, while more than half of our priests are over 70 years of age, and one third over 75. To put the situation more starkly, by 2030 there will be only 27 priests ministering in the diocese of Kilmore.”

Initiating a consultation process about the Church’s future with parishioners across the diocese, Bishop Hayes said “it is the right and responsibility of lay people to be involved in our parishes” and that “we can no longer rely on a model of parish which depends solely on the priest in view of the reduced number and ageing profile of priests”.

He had developed “a plan that will involve parish pastoral councils and wider parish communities in discussions on enhancing the role of lay people in parishes as well as reviewing the number and frequency of Masses in our parishes”.

He said it was “an opportunity to bring lay people into their own as future faith leaders” and set next Easter as the target for when changes would take place. “Only one thing is for sure: we must act now to sustain our Church for tomorrow,” the bishop added.