Irish priests decry potential elder abuse as bishops reassign elderly clerics to multiple parishes amid severe vocations decline.
Newsroom (12/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) In a poignant appeal for pastoral sensitivity within the Church’s hierarchical structure, Irish clergy have raised alarms over the potential for elder abuse when aging priests are compelled to relocate and assume burdensome new responsibilities, even as diocesan vocations plummet to historic lows.
Fr Martin Delaney, a parish priest in the Diocese of Ossory, delivered a keynote address at the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) annual general meeting, themed “Shepherding the Shepherds – When Obedience Meets Care.” He underscored the dire demographic realities facing the Irish Church, revealing that in some dioceses, more than half of the priests are over 70 years of age. In others, the number of priests over 90 exceeds those under 60 – a stark indicator of the vocations crisis that has left bishops grappling with unsustainable parish structures.
“Bishops are facing the unenviable task of ensuring that every parish can still receive pastoral and sacramental care even as the number of priests declines and our average age rises,” Fr Delaney told the assembly. Yet, he cautioned, the pressure to maintain coverage can inadvertently harm the very shepherds entrusted with the flock’s care.
For elderly priests deeply rooted in their current parishes – often after decades of service, in fragile health, and reliant on diocesan housing or stipends – a bishop’s directive to uproot and manage two or three additional parishes can border on coercion. “When that happens we risk, however unintentionally, crossing into something that the Health Service Executive might call a form of elder abuse,” Fr Delaney warned.
He emphasized that harm need not be intentional: “It can happen quietly through decisions made without enough attention to dignity, choice or well-being.” At its core, the issue reflects “systems under strain and relationships that need care on both sides,” balancing the virtue of obedience with the Gospel mandate to honor the vulnerable.
The AGM also featured canon lawyer Fr Martin Whelan, parish priest of Moycullen in Co Galway, who expounded on “The Rights of Diocesan Priests in the Code of Canon Law.” He affirmed that a fundamental canonical entitlement is the right to adequate support in retirement.
Fr Whelan decried as “an injustice” the plight of priests in their late 70s and 80s who “feel they can’t actually retire because there isn’t a place for them to retire to. That is wrong.” Such systemic shortcomings, he argued, undermine the Church’s witness to human dignity, particularly for those who have devoted their lives to sacramental ministry.
These interventions come amid broader concerns for the Irish Church, where the average priestly age continues to rise and seminary intakes remain critically low. The ACP gathering highlighted the need for dialogue between bishops and priests to foster solutions that uphold both evangelical mission and fraternal charity, ensuring the elderly are not sacrificed on the altar of administrative necessity.
As the Church in Ireland navigates this pastoral crossroads, Fr Delaney’s and Fr Whelan’s words serve as a clarion call: true shepherding must extend mercy to the shepherds themselves, lest the flock be deprived of leaders renewed in body and spirit.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from The Tablet
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