Fr. Gerard Dunne OP published an open letter to the bishops of…

Fr. Gerard Dunne OP published an open letter to the bishops of Ireland after announcement that 20 new seminarians (17 from the Republic) will begin their journey to the priesthood. In Manytooh there will be 70 diocesan seminarians + approx.20 religious. The number of the Catholic is over 4 million in the Republic. He made many good points.

I will add some of my personal and subjective opinions as the outsider but based on my experiences of the Irish Church both in Dublin (where I spent 2 years in the past) and in some places down the south were I was working in the parish ministry.

Here are 3 main points which in my opinion can be also taken into consideration when we want to understand the roots of the lackness of vocations:

\1. The healing of the liturgy - come back to beauty, deep theology of the priesthood, understanding of the sacraments - Penance and Eucharist. There are many efforts to involve lay people in the liturgy. Unfortunately many times this means real confusion of the roles of the lay people and the clergy. If the faith and the expression of it is not a treasure - nobody is ready to sacrificed his life for it. Coming back to the orthodoxy (in doctrine and liturgy) will bring the change - good tree will bear good fruits.

\2. So many people still live in the illusion of the false 'spirit of the Vatican II' - thinking that everything is changeable: doctrine, moral life. Many people still hoping for the change in ordination to priesthood which will include women etc. Others still think that removing obligation to celibacy will bring the change - which I personally think is an illusion as the main problem is not there.

\3. The way of living of priests. There is a need of rethinking the way the priests live - alone in their houses. The celibacy without community is very heavy burden. Creating the environment where there will be a possibility to live in some kind of community (where is possible) will be really conversion to the real Vatican II which underlined COMMUNIO as crucial understanding of the mission of the Church. This also has to be expressed in the way the clergy live.

Link: http://irishdominicanvocations.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/irelands-20-new-seminarians-open-letter.html