Major priest shortage expected

DUBLIN, Ireland -- New figures on vocations published in the 2008 Irish Catholic Directory indicate how quickly the country is headed toward a major shortage of priests.

The country lost 160 priests last year--mostly because of death in old age--and had only nine new ordinations. Currently there are about 4,750 priests in Ireland but, if current trends continue, by 2028 Ireland will have fewer than 1,500 priests.

"It's a trend that priests would have known about for some time," said Fr. Eamonn Bourke, Dublin diocesan vocations director. "But many laypeople are only beginning to become aware of the implications and the dramatic effect that the fall in vocations will have.

"It will mean parish amalgamations, it will mean some parishes not having daily Masses and it will probably mean some parishes not having a Mass every Sunday," he said. Weddings and funerals will likely no longer be individual events, but shared ceremonies, he said.

COPYRIGHT 2008 National Catholic Reporter
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