CLUSTERING PARISHES to cope with declining clergy numbers and an increase in priestless parishes will not mean local communities lose their identities, a conference examining some of the challenges facing the Catholic Church in Ireland has heard.
Parishes in Transition – Challenges and Opportunities was organised by the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.
More than 200 people representing dioceses across the country and guest speakers from England, the Netherlands and Germany are attending the two-day event, which opened yesterday.
According to Dr Eugene Duffy, lecturer in theology and religious studies at the college, the number of diocesan priests in Ireland will decrease by about 25 per cent over the next 10 years.
A cluster, he said, is a group of parishes that share personnel, resources, programmes and facilities so that the needs of the constituent parishes can be addressed without straining the resources of individual parishes.
“A priest can still serve a living vibrant community by visiting them and coming to them offering sacramental services. He doesn’t necessarily have to be resident in the parish,” Dr Duffy said.