ACP spokesman Father Roy Donovan told the Irish Independent that if every priest in Ireland retired at 75, as they are allowed, \u201cevery diocese in the country would collapse completely\u201d.<\/p>\n
Due to the continuing decline in priest numbers, many older clergy are being asked to take on increased responsibilities, including taking charge of additional parishes.<\/p>\n
These priests, some in their 70s or 80s, continue to serve \u201cout of deep commitment and a profound sense of duty\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the group has been contacted by some elderly priests, Fr Donovan said, who have reported being \u201calmost forcibly changed\u201d from the parish where they have served for many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are over 75, your house is your home and to have to move out and go somewhere else is a trauma,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The ACP said any expectation for elderly clergy to move parishes or tackle additional work must take into account the priest\u2019s health and well-being.<\/p>\n
The bishop understands your house is your home. One shouldn\u2019t be taken out of one\u2019s home<\/p>\n
The issue is the focus of the ACP\u2019s AGM in Athlone today, when members will be addressed by Fr Martin Whelan, a canon lawyer, and Fr Martin Delaney, who will talk about the need for the church to adopt a person-centred approach to elderly priests.<\/p>\n
According to Fr Donovan, the parish priest of Caherconlish and Inch St Lawrence in Limerick, part of the problem is a lack of a charter on elderly priests\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, it is a very difficult task at the moment for a bishop to provide pastoral care and sacramental care in every parish in his diocese because of the number of priests is declining,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut care of the priest should be the number one priority. The first point of call should be to consult with the priest and to listen to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fr Donovan said elderly clergy should have the option to decline a request to move parish without fear of losing their income or housing.<\/p>\n
In the diocese of Cashel and Emly, where he serves, Fr Donovan said the bishop has listened and understands elderly priests\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe now understands that your house is your home. One shouldn\u2019t be taken out of one\u2019s home unless one wants to leave,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ACP spokesman Father Roy Donovan told the Irish Independent that if every priest in Ireland retired at 75,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12780,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-122352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-catholic-church","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}