
CV NEWS FEED // Parishioners in the Catholic Diocese of Clogher have been given permission to act as funeral ministers as the country experiences rapid decline in priestly vocations.
Under the new policy, laypeople may lead the liturgy upon the coffin’s arrival at the church, and rite of committal at the graveside. According to a report from the Irish Independent, the diocese has appointed 40 ministers in Clogher to serve 12 parishes so far.
“Other parishes in the diocese, which has a wide geographical spread,” the report claims, “have indicated their willingness to nominate people for another training course for lay funeral ministers in the Spring of next year.”
The establishment of these ministers is a part of Bishop Larry Duffy’s plan to ease dependence on clergy in the diocese. For its 85 churches and 37 parishes, the Clogher diocese has 44 priests and two deacons in active ministry.
Bishop Duffy told parishes across the diocese that the decision was not meant to diminish “service to families and loved ones at the time of death,” but to encourage “a strengthening of the local parish commitment to accompany people at such a difficult and sensitive time.”
Bishop Donal McKeown added that a Mass celebrated for every funeral may “no longer be the norm” in Ireland.
The liberal Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) released a survey in 2022 which found that there were only 2,116 priests to serve more than 2,650 churches, 26 dioceses, and 1,355 parishes in Ireland. At the time, 189 of those priests were from outside their dioceses or abroad.
According to a July 2023 report from Catholic Herald UK, there are only 20 seminarians in formation in all of Ireland, which is a more than 50% decrease for the country since 2022.
The move is similar to other developing formation programs across Ireland for parishioners to perform a range of duties usually reserved for priests at funerals, marriages, and baptisms, as the number of priests continues to decline.
