FROM BRITAIN AND IRELAND NEWS


Liverpool to lose 40 per cent of clergy by 2015


Christopher Lamb


THE ARCHDIOCESE of Liver - pool is set to lose almost half of its serving priests in the next five years. In an area that was once an


important centre for the Church in England and Wales, the arch- diocese’s latest annual report states that the number of priests is due to drop from 170 to 100 by 2015. The remaining priests will serve 189 parishes, many of which have two or three churches to serve. It is also revealed that today there are 30 fewer priests in the diocese than a decade ago. Last year saw just one ordination to the priest- hood and there are currently nine seminarians.


At the same time the Mass- going population has declined by 42 per cent in the last 12 years, in part due to population decline, particularly in the centre of Liverpool. The projection that the diocese will lose 70 priests in the next five years is based on the number of clergy reaching the retirement age of 75. There may be priests who continue beyond that age, making the decline in clergy less dramatic. In 2005,


Liverpool launched a scheme, Leaving Safe Harbours, to arrange the diocese into 24 pastoral areas, which would leave one priest for 5,000 people. This is still in the process of being implemented. Fr Philip Inch, episcopal vicar


for evangelisation and in charge of the scheme, explained that dur- ing the 1950s and 1960s, 45 new parishes were created to serve newly built estates. However, many of these estates have since been demolished, leaving some parishes with dwindling numbers. “There has been a massive decline in population, particularly in the city of Liverpool. What was needed then is not needed now,” he said. “We are responding to the demographic needs of the dio- cese and trying to respect the tradition of each area in the dio- cese in order to bring in inevitable changes.”


Each pastoral area is being


asked to review resources, build- ings and finances and put forward proposals for the future. According to the annual report, it is anticipated this “may include the refurbishment or closure of churches within a pastoral area”. Since 2000, 18 parishes have been closed by the archdiocese.


According to diocesan figures, the number of weekly Massgoers in the archdiocese averaged 59,000 in 2009. This has declined from 88,707 in 1998 and 262,204 in 1960. The rising number of retired


clergy – currently 78 – and the decline in practising Catholics is set to place an increased financial strain on the diocese. While the archdiocese is in a strong financial position, its income fell from £50 million in 2008 to £46m in 2009. This year, the archdiocese’ expen- diture was £50m, leaving a £4m deficit. This has been offset by an increase in cash reserves, totalling £33m. The archdiocese also had a


£4.7m investment into the Icelandic investment bank Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, which has now gone into admin- istration. However, the diocese believes it will only lose £1.6m from that investment. The Archbishop of Liverpool,


Patrick Kelly, said: “This report makes it clear how grateful we should be for wisdom and care in the past which gives us the solid basis for responding to the new challenges facing every sin- gle person in this country.”


CDF silences priest after article on gays


AN IRISH priest who wrote an article questioning church teach- ing on homosexuality has been told by the Congregration for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) that he cannot publish his writings again without permission, writes Sarah Mac Donald. The action was taken against


Fr Owen O’Sullivan, a Capuchin, after he wrote an article entitled “On Including Gays” that appeared last March in The Furrow, a monthly journal published by St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. In the article, Fr O’Sullivan wrote: “The distinction between being


homosexual and doing homosex- ual acts is phoney. It’s like saying, ‘Your sexuality is part of you; but you must not be part of your sex- uality.’ Have we forgotten that the Incarnation brings matter and spirit, body and soul into one in the human-divine body of Jesus?” He also asked: “Being homosexual and trying to be faithful to church teaching – is it a cruel joke?” After the article was printed, the CDF contacted the priest, informing him that he would not be able to publish future articles without permission from an “ecclesiastical censor”. It is


believed that the CDF contacted the congregational leadership of the Capuchins as well as the friar to express – confidentially – its concerns over the contents of the article, and outlined a critique of the errors it identified. These have not been made public. The new Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland has criticised the CDF’s action. Fr Brendan Hoban, a co-founder speaking on behalf of the mem- bership, said: “Any effort to stifle such discussion is not only unwise and illogical but counterproduc- tive in present circumstances.”


Church schools break admission rules, says adjudicator


CHURCH schools are breaking admissions rules by favouring families who volunteer to help with parish activities, according to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA), writes Sam Adams. The OSA’s chief adjudicator


Ian Craig said this week that the practice placed the children of white middle-class families at an advantage. His remarks come at a time when two over-subscribed Catholic secondary schools –Coloma Convent, south-east London, and the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, west London – have fought battles with their dioceses for favouring candidates whose parents read at Mass or fund-raise in the parish. Mr Craig was speaking at the launch of his annual report this week, in which he states that points-based admissions criteria employed by faith schools fall outside the guidelines set down by the Schools Admissions Code, and unwittingly discriminate against poor and immigrant children. Mr Craig said that favouring candidates whose families did voluntary work in their parishes favoured white middle-class parents when people living in poorer areas – such as immigrants – might not have the option of taking part in them. He called for greater clarity in faith schools’ oversubscription admissions criteria. His findings were backed by Oona Stannard, chief executive and director of the Catholic Education Service (CES), who said dioceses supported his goals. “The CES will continue to back diocesan colleagues in their role, noting that dioceses have themselves referred schools to the OSA where they had concerns about their schools’ compliance,” she said.


6 November 2010 | THE TABLET | 35


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