Madam, - Fr Eamonn Bourke, in a letter discussing the fall in vocations (November 24th), says he believes "that men and women are still being called to the priesthood and religious life". If these people are really being called to ministry, where are they?
He also writes that "the Catholic Church in Ireland needs sisters, brothers and priests. Answering this call will take sacrifice and courage." But he fails to say why these people are needed. Looking at the attendance in the churches of Ireland it would appear that the shortage of vocations is but a reflection of the decrease in the numbers seeking the services of the Catholic Church.
His comment that "parish communities must now take responsibility for finding and encouraging priests from within their own numbers" makes one ask if the parishes indeed could cater for their own needs if they weren't restricted to providing single males only to do the ministering.
What fresh thinking has the Catholic Church brought to the worldwide decline in vocations? Fr Bourke claims that celibacy is an example of a priest's love for God's people. Could he explain why a non-celibate should be incapable of the same love?
His final comment is that "members of the believing communities around our country must be willing to ask themselves the hard question: 'Am I being called to the priesthood or religious life?' They cannot keep leaving it to someone else." This point would be more potent but for the fact that the women and married men who feel they are drawn to the priesthood will be informed, if they present themselves to Fr Bourke in his position as director of vocations for the Dublin diocese, that they have misheard their God. - Yours, etc,
TONY McCOY O'GRADY, Grangebrook Close, Dublin 16.S