The Bishop of Meath Tom Deenihan has said that he is cautiously optimistic that the diocese is seeing a ‘turn’ in the vocations tide. “I think that the recent upturn, and we must be cautious here, in those entering Propaedeutic years, seminary or just enquiring, has been well reported and is very welcome. There are, of course, geographical variations also. Hopefully, it is the beginning of a turn. It is also true that many have commented on the small increase in the numbers of young men who are attending Mass and it is true that many dioceses have invested heavily into ministries such as SEEK, Sycamore, YouCat and Catechism studies and this may be contributing.”
The diocese has a number of men in training for the priesthood. “I ordained a man for the Diocese, Fr. Anthony Kerr, last month. We have a further three seminarians and another two undergoing a Propaedeutic (or pre-seminary) experience and I recently met with four other men and the Vocations Director, Fr. Tony Gonoude for prayer and a discussion.”
All this makes the bishop hopeful but he’s still praying for more. “ I am hopeful, and becoming more optimistic, but I am still very much praying. The age profile is quite high, we have many men who have opted, freely and generously, to continue working past the retirement age and we have over twenty three priests in the Diocese who are from other dioceses or congregations. That being said, I also appreciate that the Diocese of Meath is currently better off than many others and I appreciate the difficulties that many of my brother bishops are experiencing in this regard.”
