By Michael Patrick O’Brien–
The headlines have been jolting. “Significant drop in Irish numbers of priests” (Irish Times 2016). “Only six Irish sign up for the priesthood – a 222-year-record low.” (irishcentral.com, 2017). Where have all the Irish Catholic priests gone?
Fr. Brendan Hoban, head of the Association of Catholic priests in Ireland has told the Irish Times, “The crisis is now mathematically certain. If we keep going the way we are, the future of the Irish priesthood is now unsustainable.” Whether due to the increased secularization of Europe as a whole, or fallout from the child abuse scandal, or other factors, Ireland has been transformed from a country that exported priests, including to Utah, to one that soon will need to import priests from other countries to minister to the Irish people.
This is sad news indeed. My great great uncle, Rev. Thomas J. Leonard, came to the USA from County Limerick in Ireland as a young man in 1888, was ordained in Montreal, and served as a priest in Vermont for almost fifty years. He ministered, along with many fellow priests, for three decades in the same parish in Middlebury, Vermont. His older and unmarried sister Mary Leonard, my great great aunt, worked as his cook and housekeeper the whole time. Fr. Leonard also was a respected civic leader, serving on the local school board, raising money to send back home to help persons suffering during the Irish Civil War, and giving lectures on the Irish poets to the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
Irish priests also have helped sustain Utah Catholics for many years. Utah’s first Bishop, Lawrence Scanlan, was from Ballytarsna, County Tipperary. My boyhood home parish, St. Joseph’s in Ogden, Utah, was led for over fifty years by Monsignor Patrick Cushnahan (from County Derry) and then by Monsignor Patrick Kennedy (Thurles). Many Utah Catholics today know personally of the great service provided by such Irish-imports as, to name just a few, Monsignor Francis Mannion (from Galway), Monsignor Terry Moore (Ballyfin), Father Patrick Carley (Thurles), and Father James Semple (Thurles).
The reality of the disappearing Irish priests parallels a world-wide pattern. According to Wikipedia, from 1980 to 2012, the ratio of Catholics per priest increased globally, with the number of Catholics per priest going from 1,895 to 3,126. Utah and other places seem to be responding to the challenge by trying to increase the number of deacons and to bring in priests from other places, such as South and Central America, Africa, and the Philippines, where the Church is growing. These ordained men already have provided, and hopefully will continue to provide, great service to many Catholic congregations.
Nevertheless, the looming possible extinction of the Irish priesthood, such a pillar of the clergy for so many years, suggests that the Catholic Church is going through a period of significant transformation regarding who will be there to provide the sacraments for my children and my childrens’ children yet to come.
