A parish priest in Belfast City Centre has urged parishioners to help “chart the way forward” as his church has been reduced to just one priest for the first time in its 200 year history.
St Patrick’s Parish maintains the spiritual and pastoral needs of local residents and city-workers, and also serves a busy hospital, a large primary school, several residential and care homes and the new Ulster University Belfast Campus.
It was built on a scale and with a level of high quality interior decoration that it became known as a pro-cathedral, or temporary cathedral, for the diocese of Down and Connor.
In previous decades there would have been up to six priests, but since 2022 the parish has served by two resident clergy, Parish Priest Fr Eugene O’Neill and curate Fr Tony McAleese.
After six years Fr Tony will be moving onto a new ministry at Oliver Plunkett Parish, leaving Father Eugene as the only priest at St Patrick’s.
Fr Eugene said there is simply not enough priests to meet demand.
“Bishop Alan has a very difficult job trying to find priests for all of the parishes in the diocese when the number of priests has been decreasing rapidly and priests are getting older,” he said.
“Over the last few weekends I have talked with the bishop a lot about the needs of the parish and he has been extremely kind, sympathetic and supportive.
“But the bottom line is there just aren’t enough priests to go around and the bishop simply has nobody else to send us. So now we have to face the future in a very different context. Obviously things will need to change and adjustment will have to be made.”
A fall in vocations has meant that the island of Ireland is suffering from a shortage of priests in a changing world.
Fr Eugene has asked for understanding and support from parishioners saying “things will be different” going forward.
“The people of this parish are wonderful. You have always been so supportive of you priests and I know you appreciate that one priest cannot do everything that two, three or four traditionally did,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“I would really like to ask for your help as we chart the way forward. I would like you the people of the parish to help me work out the needs of the parish in these changing times. I would really welcome your ideas, your suggestions and your thoughts. I would also challenges people to think of ways that they could serve the parish and help to share the mission of St Patricks. If anyone had a few spare hours each week and would be willing to share their skills and talents I would love to hear from you.
“Things will be different going forward with just one priest but I promise, as does Bishop Alan, that St Patricks will be here for you into the future.”
