A letter to the priests, Pastoral Councils and all the faithful in Ardagh and Clonmacnois.  Easter 2008.


Dear Fellow Workers for the Kingdom,

I write this letter as I reach a milestone in my own life, the twenty-fifth year of my ministry as Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois.  Jubilees are joyful occasions but, in the oldest tradition of the Jewish/Christian faith, also times of opportunity and new beginnings.  This letter is an attempt to open up for wider consideration the situation in which we find ourselves in our Diocese at this time so that we may explore a way forward together. 


Surely the most serious issue facing us at the present time is the looming shortage of priests.  I am not at all sure that we have even now taken on board the seriousness of the situation; so I am writing this letter as a discussion document.  I want to share my own thoughts about how we might address the problem of providing pastoral care with a much smaller number of priests available.  I would like to seek the help of anyone who may read this letter, especially members of Parish Pastoral Councils, by asking all to share with me their views about this matter.

Present Situation :

Firstly, let me put some facts before you. 

· We have now just over sixty active priests in the Diocese.  When I was ordained Bishop in 1983 there were one hundred.

· At that time we had fifteen seminarians.  We have now two, both of whom are currently in their first year. 

· We have no priest under thirty, only five under forty and about ten will reach retirement age in the next ten years, presuming all of us live until retirement age.

The facts, the statistics, are stark.  They clearly tell us that change is inevitable.  So what do we do?  Do we remain passive hoping that, despite the evidence to the contrary, something will turn up which will preserve the status quo?  On the other hand, we can be active in trying to plan for the future realistically and constructively, within the constraints of decreased availability of ordained priests.  The latter is surely the route that we must follow.


Year of Vocation :
We must, of course, not give up on fostering vocations.  The Year of Vocation provides us with a good opportunity to do all we can in this regard.  I am asking every community and every individual to pray for this intention.  We need to keep the subject of vocations  to the fore by disseminating the literature which is being produced by the Diocese at the moment to promote vocations.  We also need to try to identify in our parish communities potential candidates for the priesthood.  We