Older Irish priests warned parish postings could be ‘elder abuse’

Fr Martin Delaney of Ossory Diocese told a recent Association of Catholic Priests AGM that in some Irish dioceses more than half the priests are over 70, while in others there are more priests over 90 than there are under 60. 

“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,” said Fr Delaney in a speech on the theme of “Shepherding the Shepherds – When Obedience Meets Care”.

For older priests rooted in a parish, perhaps in fragile health and dependent on diocesan housing or income, a bishop’s request to move and take on a demanding new role can feel like pressure. 

“When that happens we risk, however unintentionally, crossing into something that the Health Service Executive might call a form of elder abuse,” said Fr Delaney. 

“Harm doesn’t have to be deliberate,” he emphasised, “it can happen quietly through decisions made without enough attention to dignity, choice or well-being.” 

He highlighted “systems under strain and relationships that need care on both sides”.

Canon lawyer Fr Martin Whelan spoke to the meeting about “The Rights of Diocesan Priests in the Code of Canon Law”, noting that a key canonical right of priests is the right to adequate support. 

Regarding the welfare of elderly priests, Fr Whelan said it was an injustice that priests in their late 70s and 80s “feel they can’t actually retire because there isn’t a place for them to retire to. That is wrong”.

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Older Irish priests face ‘elder abuse’ from bishop’s pressures – The Tablet (By Sarah Mac Donald/The Tablet)