(The Nationalist, 29 October 1999)
God speaks to us through events no less than through ideas. God writes with facts. Consider the following facts. In Ireland, in the period 1992-1998 inclusive, average annual statistics on the priesthood were: – 73 ordinations, 163 deaths, and 30 departures. There is therefore an average gross annual loss of 193, as against a gain of 73, making a net annual loss of 120. For every 6 who were ordained 16 died or left.
By way of comparison, in 1970 there were 259 ordinations, 115 deaths, and 40 departures. Ordinations exceeded deaths and departures by 104. Roughly, for every 10 ordained, 6 died or left. Ireland had 33,092 priests and finally professed religious in 1970. In 1998 it had 19,996, a drop of nearly 40%. And median age has risen substantially in that period. In 1970, the number entering seminaries and houses of religious formation was 750; in 1998, it was 92, a drop of almost 88%. (Statistics from the Council for Research and Development of the Irish Bishops’ Conference.)
In Britain, the situation is illustrated by a letter from Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool to his priests at the end of July 1999 stating that he expected Liverpool would have only about 140 priests for its 210 parishes by the year 2009, that is, 2 priests for every 3 parishes. (The Tablet, 14 August 1999, p.1123)
In Europe, the average age of priests in many countries has climbed to 65-70 years and in many dioceses, by the year 2000, between 30 and 50 per cent of parishes will have no resident priest. (Jan Kerkhofs SJ, “Europe needs Therapy”, The Tablet, 24 July 1999, p.1015-1016)
In the world, by the year 2000, only 12% of priests will be less than 34 years of age. (Gerald Arbuckle SM, Refounding the Church: Dissent for Leadership, Chapman, London, l993, p.61.)
What is God saying to us through those facts? Surely they challenge us to ask some basic questions: – is the model of church we have grown up with dying? What about the future of priesthood, not just its roles but its nature? Are priests preparing for collaborative ministry with laypeople? Are we making room for the thousands of Irish people who have completed diploma and degree courses in philosophy and theology in institutes such as Mater Dei in Dublin, Carlow College or Maynooth? Since most of these are women, that leads to the question whether priests are ready to work with women in pastoral ministry on a basis of equality.
Are we ready to identify, to name and to challenge the attitudes in ourselves that are obstacles to working together in partnership? Are we ready to challenge inertia, passivity, lack of trust, power seeking, or structures that are stagnant and stifling? Are we content to settle for the mere survival of the church, or do we want to see it become a church of mission reaching beyond itself to bear witness to the power of the Gospel to renew people’s lives? We cannot with conviction speak of a risen Christ if we cling to a past that is dying. Is God silent – or are we deaf?