THE DOWNTURN in the economy is unlikely to be the cause of this year’s increase in vocations to the priesthood, the president of the National Seminary for Ireland has said.
Thirty-six new seminarians began priesthood studies at the weekend, up by 12 on last year and the highest number since 1999.
A further two men are expected to join later this year.
The new seminarians are aged between 18 and 45 and come from a variety of backgrounds including industry, college, the IT sector, teaching, the Civil Service and medicine.
St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, will be the base for 26 of the candidates; seven will study at St Malachy’s College, Belfast; and two will study at the Beda College in Rome. One candidate is entering the pre-seminary discernment year in Valladolid, Spain.
At the end of September, the number of seminarians in Maynooth will be 77, including seven transferred from Scotus College, in Glasgow, which has closed down.
St Patrick’s College is the national seminary and has been training priests since 1795.
The intake of 36 seminarians will not necessarily translate into 36 new priests; on average, for every 10 men who begin training, five or six are ordained.
President of St Patrick’s College Msgr Hugh Connolly said while the increase in numbers was welcome, it was too early to say if it was any more than a blip.
“If it is an upturn, great, but we are still not talking about a tidal wave,” he said.
When set against the number of priests who had retired or died in Ireland, it was certainly not a return to 20 or 30 years ago.
The monsignor said the increase was unlikely to be caused by the downturn in the economy since few seminarians came directly from school. “Most are leaving well-paid jobs and comfortable living conditions to live in a room off a corridor,” he said.
The seminarians had spent up to 12 months considering their decision; the old model of men testing if they had a vocation by entering the seminary was no longer encouraged.
“The lead-in time to joining is a lengthy one,” Msgr Connolly said.
He said, however, that even before the collapse of the economy, there had been some sort of questioning about values in society and that might translate to an increase in vocations in the future.
Msgr Connolly also said there would be no return to the older model of the church, with priests who were totally responsible for the governance of a parish.
The model was now a broader one of collaboration with and inclusion of lay people, he said.
