Heading for 'no priest' parishes
A discussion document on planning for a future with fewer priests has been published by Kilcullen Parish Pastoral Council.
Information for Better Consultation of the Parishioners of Kilcullen Parish on Strategic Planning for the Future is aimed at promoting dialogue between parishioners, the Council, and the clergy on the implications of a situation where the number of priests working in the Diocese will halve to 250 by 2020.
In the Blessington Deanery, the group of 12 parishes to which Kilcullen belongs, there are currently just 21 priests. In the expected diocesan outcome there would not be enough priests to provide one per parish.
The gravity of the situation is highlighted by the fact that in the three parishes of Kilcullen, Ballymore Eustace and Dunlavin –- those latter the two which the Council proposes Kilcullen should consider working with –- the average age of the six working priests is 65.
In relatively recent living memory, the complement of clergy in Kilcullen was a parish priest and two curates. Currently there are just two, even though the village has now become a town where the population increased by 105 percent between 2002-2006.
The discussion document poses the question that if in three years there is just one priest in Kilcullen Parish, what will be the implications?
Other specific matters to be considered include what resources and services need to be developed in Kilcullen to prepare for such an eventuality, and the possible need to share resources -- including available priests -- with other parishes.
In the document, the Parish Council looks at the various models of church which have prevailed through the history of Christianity in Ireland. These range from the individually charismatic evangelisations of St Patrick and his colleagues, through the subsequent monastic system and later the 'underground' Penal Church, to the Roman model which appeared after Catholic Emancipation and had the benefit of large numbers of religious and priests providing services.
The Council believes that a new model is now required to deal with the changing circumstances detailed above and the current culture in Ireland. It says parishes have to move from a model based mainly on 'devotion and maintenance' to a 'model of mission'.
The authors of the document say that a way must be found to move from the 'priest centred approach' to equipping lay people to carry 'significant pastoral responsibility with confidence'.
Parishioners are invited to submit their views, either orally or in writing, to any member of the Kilcullen Parish Pastoral Council by 2 September 2007.
Brian Byrne.
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