The Catholic Church in Ireland is in denial about vocations to the priesthood, says Fr Brendan Hoban, a founder member of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP).
“Ireland’s priests will have almost disappeared in 20 years,” he said. In his new book Who Will Break Bread for Us? he points out that in his native Killala diocese “ for 22 parishes, there are now seven priests under 55. Spool on for two decades and there will be seven (or thereabouts) under 75.”
The book is dedicated to six priests who have been silenced or threatened with silence by the Vatican, Fr Brian D'Arcy, Fr Seán Fagan, Fr Tony Flannery, Fr Gerard Moloney, Fr Iggy O'Donovan and Fr Owen O'Sullivan.
Studying for priesthood
Fr Hoban adds that in seven years Tuam archdiocese will have "50 priests for 55 parishes and 10 years on from that, in 2030, there will be just 30 Tuam priests, most of them elderly." In 1990, he said, "there were 525 students studying for the diocesan priesthood in Ireland; in 2013 there are 70."
When he entered in 1966 “of the 84 who went to Maynooth, 20 were from the western dioceses; of the 12 in first year in Maynooth none is from the west.”
He continues: “We don’t need to have 20-20 vision to see this particular train coming down the track. All we need to do is to be able to count . . . Ireland’s priests will have virtually disappeared in 20 years.”
