Madam, - May I respond to points made by Marie Keenan in yesterday's Rite and Reason column, where she asks for an explanation for a recent appointment in the Archdiocese of Dublin? The appointment of the priest support co-ordinator is a specific task within the broad range of support services which the Archdiocese of Dublin provides for its priests.
The diocesan office for priests provides pastoral support, ongoing theological and spiritual formation, specific counselling services, healthcare and nursing, investment in proper housing, special care for elderly priests and priests in the first years after ordination.
The archdiocese makes significant investment in its priests at all levels. It might have been helpful for Ms Keenan to have clarified the precise nature of the work of the new support co-ordinator. The task of the priest support co-ordinator is not, generically, to "police its clergy".
The Archbishop of Dublin has a responsibility to the people of the archdiocese to supervise some priests who have been removed from active ministry and priests whose ministry has been restricted or subject to specific conditions for a variety of reasons. To fail in this responsibility of supervising complex situations could have serious consequences for vulnerable people and for the priest himself. The mandate of the support co-ordinator extends only to this particular group of priests and is to encourage each of them to live an active and meaningful life within the limitations of their situation. These priests are also offered the care of an individual support priest.
It should also be noted that the person appointed to the new position has a wide range of experience, not just in the field of investigative police work, but also in providing support and liaison with a wide range of groups, services, and communities. - Yours, etc,
Mgr LORCAN O'BRIEN, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Dublin, Drumcondra, Dubin 9.