Priest Shortage May See Masses in Mid-Week

THE Bishop of Galway has indicated there will be a major scale-back of services throughout the diocese in the next three to five years as the decline in vocations takes its toll some of the changes will include the removal of parish priests from a number of rural areas and the loss of regular weekly Masses in some parishes.Revealing his new Diocesan Appointments this week, Bishop Martin Drennan revealed he has now also established a “consultation team” to devise“a long-term restructuring plan” for the diocese.It is expected the team will recommend the removal of parish priests and the curtailment of Masses in a number of parishes – as well as a drastically increased role for lay people throughout the diocese.The move to devise a restructuring plan has come in response to the loss of four priests in the diocese – three through retirement and one through death – which has increased the workload of the remaining priests in the area. Speaking to The Connacht Tribune, Bishop Drennan described the proposed changes to church services as “inevitable” in light of the lack of new vocations in the diocese and the age profile of priests in the area.Bishop Drennan said he had to be “realistic” about the future and felt “a whole rearrangement” of the diocese had to be undertaken now before it was too late.“I don’t want us to just let this happen, I want to deal with the issue now and get a plan in place that will help to ease the effects of this for our...