Clare Island echoes to a new tune as lay services fill gap left by shortage of priests

Since our offshore islands are usually seen as the last bastions of traditional life, you don’t expect to see a woman saying Mass. At least, canonically speaking, leading a church service, in the absence of a priest, which has all the elements of the Mass – other than the ritual transubstantiation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Neither do visitors expect to attend a Sunday service with a distinctive jazzy timbre to the music, courtesy of a retired Lutheran minister, Dr Jörg Zengel, who has lived on the island for many years. He leads a group of island musicians and singers called Saints and Sinners.

Welcome to Clare Island, Co Mayo, where the community regularly leads church services when a priest is not available to make the voyage from the mainland. This has been the case since the last resident priest left more than two decades ago.

As retired teacher Mary McCabe explains: “You can just imagine our shock back in 2001 when we were told that our outgoing resident priest, Father Ned Crosby, would not be replaced.

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“Back then, we weren’t really aware of the full impact of the looming shortage of priests and the far-reaching effects this would have on parishes. All we thought about was that we were losing a central plank of our close-knit community.”

Under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Tuam, Clare Island and neighbouring Inishturk, are still served well by the church through a rota of available priests. Father John Kenny, the parish priest of Partry and Tourmakeady on the Co Mayo mainland, coordinates this system.

Back in 2001, we weren’t really aware of the full impact of the looming shortage of priests and the far-reaching effects this would have on parishes

However, as is the case throughout the country, there are serious challenges due to the age profile of priests in this sprawling diocese, which stretches from Achill to Moore Parish on the river Shannon. There are only two students presently studying for the priesthood from the archdiocese, and only 41 ministering priests under the retirement age of 75 working across 56 parishes.

As a result, the rota for Clare Island means there are services scheduled to be led by priests three weekends out of every four, but they are never held on Sundays, unless during the summer months when a visiting priest was available.

[ 2002: Priest shortage means end of weekend Masses at three Achill churches ]

However, as Mary McCabe explains, bad weather during the winter months or other issues, such as a priest becoming ill in a mainland parish, means that scheduled services with priests must be cancelled with trained members of the laity stepping in at the eleventh hour.

“We had to learn very quickly when we formed our pastoral council after Fr Ned left in 2001. Five islanders were trained as Leaders of the Eucharist and then we took tentative steps to deliver a Sunday service to our community, which up to then were only familiar with a priest, in all his robes, on the altar,” recalls McCabe.

Initially, there was a reluctance by some people to accept or attend the services, but this has now totally changed

Eucharistic Ministers were also trained on how to distribute communion and a rota of readers was also set up.

“Initially, there was a reluctance by some people to accept or attend the services, but this has now totally changed, and people constantly comment on how much they enjoy the simplicity and devoutness the services offer. Our Sunday service is different from Mass: it is less formal and, perhaps, more spiritual, with the congregation very involved,” says Mary McCabe.

She observes that, essentially, the community is now responsible for “ensuring that the faith of our ancestors is passed on to the next generation”.

She adds: “Our Sunday Services have complete lay involvement and now, after two decades, this is the norm for us. Summer visitors to the island attend those services, and are always pleasantly surprised at how much they enjoy them.”

McCabe has a very encouraging message for other communities where the shortage of priests demands more involvement of the laity.

“Our story is testament to embracing the changes with vigour. There may be a reluctance to participate by some members of your congregation at first, and your presence on the altar may be frowned upon by some. However, there will be a realisation that the future of the practice of the faith, and its contribution to our communities, depend on all of us laity playing our part.”

Father John Kenny agrees. “I’m happy that when the priest isn’t available, the islanders are able to minister for themselves and celebrate their faith. When it comes to Liturgy, Jesus said: ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in their midst’,” he says.

I’m happy that when the priest isn’t available, the islanders are able to minister for themselves and celebrate their faith

“This community is a leading light to others and is showing that it can be done, not just because the priest cannot be there but it is also a wholesome experience. The gathering reinforces the sense of communality and belonging,” Fr Kenny says.

“Change is difficult and there is a certain resistance to change. But rural parishes, in particular, are slowly adapting to the reality of having to celebrate liturgy without a priest present. Clare Island provides a perfect template, as does neighbouring Inishturk where the community also has a long history of its laity leading services. It is worth remembering that the first eucharistic was celebrated in a room and not a big cathedral.”

Fr Kenny also welcomes the significant involvement of Jörg Zengel. “His involvement in the church services brings a distinctive upbeat jazziness to our gospel music,” he says.

[ The shifting lay of the land: Church prepares for a new era ]

Leading the Saints and Sinners group, Zengel plays keyboards alongside violinist Lindsey Bellosa, guitarist and singer Donal Moran, percussionist Jack Pinder and singer Sharon O’Grady.

“What is really special about our services,” says O’Grady, “is that the liturgies are in a language we can relate to, whilst the music Jörg has introduced, whether it is a Bob Dylan or Elvis song, adds to a very special and happy sense of spirituality.”

As one of the trained Ministers of the Eucharist, O’Grady distributed communion in a packed church for the 2022 Christmas Eve service, which was led by Mary McCabe. It was the first laity-led main Christmas service on the island but, as McCabe observes, it will not be the last, as this island community leads the way in the new realities of Catholic church worship.