should not be afraid to suggest the possibility of a vocation to priesthood to young people and even to people who are no longer young.  But even if we do all of that and there is an upward turn in the number of seminarians for our Diocese we are still faced with a shortage in the coming decades.  It is for this reality that we need to plan. 

To come to the main point of this letter:  I want to put some ideas before you about how we might best plan for the future.  I want you to think about these, to discuss them and to refine and develop them with a view to implementation of them.

So let me put before you some principal ideas and suggestions. 

· Firstly, I am reluctant to see any church closed as long as the community that worships there is able to maintain the church in reasonably good condition.  I would like to see every church continue to be available for baptisms, marriages and funerals, insofar as people wish to use them.  It may be possible to provide at least one weekday Mass in most churches and certainly masses for special occasions.


· It will clearly not be possible for a diminished number of priests to provide a Mass every weekend in every church.  The quality of the celebration of the Sunday Mass is more important than actual numbers of celebrations.   The Parish Church is well equal to meeting the needs of many parishes where there are more than one church.


· It is my hope that decisions about weekend masses can be agreed at local level.  I hope that individual parishes and clusters of adjoining parishes can work out a realistic rota which is flexible enough to allow for the possibility of a priest being unwell or on holiday.  Priests and Pastoral Councils from adjoining parishes should work towards agreement on these matters, working always on the assumption that further adjustment is needed as the number of priests in individual clusters diminishes.


· One of the great strengths of the Church is the loyalty that people have for their own local church.  The smaller the community the stronger the loyalty can be.  It is something precious and should not be lost.  So I wonder if that loyalty can be channelled to providing services in churches which do not require the presence of an ordained priest.  A considerable number of people in the Diocese have been improving their knowledge of Scripture and numbers of people have been trained and commissioned as Eucharistic Ministers for various parishes in recent times.  With proper training provided by the Diocese more people could take greater responsibility for various services in their own local church.


· I take hope from the fact that many people are taking more responsibility for various aspects of administration and faith sharing. The "Do this in Memory" programme for First Holy Communion and preparation for Confirmation has drawn in parents and others in a way which is highly appropriate for preparation for these sacraments.  There is a very strong tradition in Ireland of supporting people at times of bereavement and this could prove