Counties Roscommon and Sligo were both represented at the recent “Parishes in Transition” National Conference hosted in Limerick on Thursday and Friday May 22nd & 23rd. Organised by Fr. Eugene Duffy, a native of Ballaghaderreen, the conference aimed to support Irish parishes and dioceses prepare for a future that will include priest-less parishes and much higher levels of lay participation.

Throughout Europe there is a growing trend to plan for the future viability of parishes through clustering initiatives. This approach affords parishes the opportunity to keep their identity but also to have formal support arrangements with neighbouring parishes.

Both the Elphin and Achrony dioceses have already taken steps in this direction. In May 2007 a map identifying the Elphin diocese’s thirty-eight parishes as thirteen clusters was published. Since then priests in some clusters have been meeting regularly, e.g. Riverstown, Strokestown, Castlerea and Roscommon and more recently Parish Pastoral Council representatives and priests have begun to discuss common interests and concerns at cluster meetings, e.g. Boyle.

Commenting after the conference, Justin Harkin, Director of Pastoral Development with the Elphin diocese, described the event as very helpful owing to the inter-disciplinary approach taken by the international panel of speakers and the conference’s focus on exploring the future direction of parish life in both urban and rural settings.

The task of establishing context fell to Limerick historian Liam Irwin, geographers Des McCafferty and Brendan O’Keeffe and sociologist Eoin O’Mahony. Mr. Irwin traced how parish identity has developed and changed in Ireland over the past 1500 years. Prof. McCafferty and lecturer Brendan O’Keeffe spoke about community in post Celtic Tiger Ireland in both urban and rural settings while sociologist Eoin O’Mahony explored how immigration could impact more positively on parish life.

Conference organiser Fr. Eugene Duffy, now based in Mary Immaculate College Limerick, followed with a presentation on the clustering of parishes from a theological perspective. He noted the potential of clusters to provide a support system to persons (lay and clerical) who engage in a variety of ministries. This insight was borne out by subsequent presentations which reflected the practical experience of clustering in two Irish dioceses, i.e. Limerick and Achonry. Achrony presenters Fr. Dermot Meehan and Joe Hannon emphasised that clustering takes time as it involves new ways of thinking and of being with each other (priests and people) but that there experience is that it is very worthwhile. They also concurred with Fr. Duffy that all priests and parishioners need to come to a greater sense of being the community of disciples of Jesus gifted by the Holy Sprit for the work of today in all its forms and that the rationale of change is far deeper than a pending shortage of priests.

Day Two began with a highly informative presentation from Prof. Henk Witte on changes in the church in The Netherlands, a country where up to eight traditional parishes now form individual clusters and where a growing number of parishes no longer have Mass every Sunday. Today in The Netherlands there are c. 948 priests, 240 deacons and c. 750 employed lay people but it is doubted that such a high level of lay employment is sustainable given the decline in rates of Church participation. Prof. Witte also shared that the Dutch sense of parish is altering. Increasingly parishioners are seeing parish as a network of Church communities and that committed lay people are also becoming more mission conscious in the sense of being more outward looking and better at inviting people to be part of the Church.

The Dutch experience also indicates that most priests’ hearts are in liturgy and pastoral care, that they are used to working alone and consequently find it difficult to be team players. Some participant priests suggested that this comment could also be applied to them.
Frequently their strengths do not encompass policy formation or being good organisers and that part of the transitional process is about acknowledging these gifts in other people and bringing them into the service of parishes and cluster.

Dublin based Professor of Liturgy Tom Whelan followed with a presentation that illustrated how parishes and dioceses in other countries are managing in the absence of Sunday Masses. Delegates learned that in many parishes people continue to gather to pray and that their prayer services tend to give priority to the proclamation of readings from Sacred Scripture. One of his core messages to delegates is that such provision needs to be in line with solid principals and mindful of Church tradition and that there is much wisdom available to us from other times in history as well as current practice throughout the world.

There was also a presentation on the re-introduction of deacons in England, and in particular the experience of the diocese of Westminster (London) over the past seven years. Canon Pat Browne PP of Pimlico described deacons as a bridge between the clergy and the laity, men who enable others to fulfil their vocations and who reach out to people on the margins.

Delegates also learned of the tensions and challenges being experienced by priests and Parish Pastoral Council members in Germany, another country where Catholic parishes have undergone huge transformation. Question time indicated that similar challenges exist in Ireland, including identification of the specific remit of Parish Pastoral Councils, challenges in recruiting and retaining people capable of contributing and communications challenges vis-à-vis parishes at large. Today, in some parts of Germany clusters of up to nine parishes are being served by two priests with the support of deacons, lay pastoral workers and volunteers.

The final presentation of the conference was given by Limerick’s Bishop Donal Murray. He spoke encouragingly of recognising our parishes as places, like homes, where we learn who we are, places where we learn what we have to offer to the world around us and where we have a shared relationship with Christ. He stressed that parishes never exist for their own sake and that a core challenge before all committed parishioners is the task of developing a contemplative outlook. He also discouraged groups such as Parish Pastoral Councils from getting completely caught up in “church” concerns to the detriment of other life issues that impact upon local lifestyles. The involvement of committed Christians in politics, business and the struggle to safeguard our ecology and environment all have significance. He also emphasised the need for parishes to become more aware of their collective duty to form their members and not to assume that such work will happen without effort and investment.

It is hoped that a similar national conference will run again next year and that this will also facilitate the sharing of experiences among priests and lay people who are preparing for a time of less priests and greater lay participation.

Patricia Ryan (Ballinameen-Breedogue), Fr. Eugene Duffy (conference organiser), Padraig Ryan (Ballinameen-Breedogue), Fr. Pat Browne (London), Bill Fox (St. Mary’s Sligo) and Justin Harkin (Pastoral Dev. Office, Strokestown) who were among the Elphin diocesan delegates at the “Parishes in Transition” National Conference in Limerick last week.