Bishop Brendan Leahy wrote in a letter that the number of priests is rapidly declining. As a result, lay people would have to fill the void by leading a range of church services including funeral prayers and sacrament preparations for children.

"We will need lay people to lead prayers at funerals, at gravesides, to visit schools on behalf of the parish, to be involved in pastoral councils and baptismal teams, to help with the practical administration of parishes," the bishop said.

The bishop wrote that the number of priests was "declining rapidly" and that "the ageing profile of clergy is now very evident.

"It is clear that at this stage we can no longer guarantee the celebration of a Mass in each church in the diocese each Sunday," he continued.

A number of pastoral units in the west of Ireland diocese are set to lose a priest this autumn. Leahy appealed to parishioners to face the challenges with realism and determination.

"The rapid changes are calling us to envisage and work towards putting in place new forms of lay leadership in our parish communities," he said.

"We all need to work urgently to prepare for the new arrangements that are needed in the coming years. It is in working together, encouraging each other and facing challenges with peace of soul combined with realism and determination that we move forward," Leahy added.

The declining numbers of clergy in Ireland are reflected in data showing a global reduction in seminarians. Vatican statistics show the number of young men joining the priesthood decreased globally to just under 112,000, with every region except Africa showing a downturn.

Sources

• Independent.ie
• Irish Mirror
• Catholic News

Archbishop Christoph Schönborn of Vienna stressed the youth catechism, which has been adapted for young children, is a "faith book not Facebook."

It will be an important resource for children and their parents as "a book to be read and discussed together," he said at the launch.

Describing children as "great theologians," he said "out of the mouth of children you can get the deepest answers to the greatest questions."

Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick and Michaela Freifrau von Heeremann, who is one of the ‘Youcat' authors, spoke about the importance of establishing faith within the family.

Leahy suggested Youcat could be read by older age groups and that it might "help people who feel disaffected by the faith to look again to see what are we about."

"Very often people don't realise that the church has a vision about life and about the meaningfulness of life that isn't just limited to a few issues like sexual morality - it is a much broader vision about life."

Leahy said one of Youcat's underpinning themes is care for the earth.

This ties in with Laudato Si', Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical on the environment, he noted.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: East Tennessee Catholic